Violet's Return to the Two Towns
by Edward'sTrueAngel
Summary: Violet, the prodigal daughter of Lillian and Cam, has finally come back home. When her life-long crush Akito makes a sudden return to Bluebell as well, old feelings get stirred up for her. As new romances enter the picture, though, yesterday's possibilities threaten to stay in the past. So who holds the key to Violet's future? Read to find out!
1. Home at Last

Hello, hello! This is my story about Lillian and Cam's daughter, Violet. Technically, this is a sequel to my most recent fic, _Lillian's Tale of Two Towns_. If you've read that one then awesome! If you haven't then that's okay because this one stands on its own with a whole new cast of characters. Either way, I had a little more story left in me when that story was done and this is the result. Here we go!

* * *

"You're really doing it, aren't you?" Marissa spoke with a resigned sigh as she helped me grab the ridiculously heavy suitcase and bring it down the steps next to the other ones.

"Mmm-hmm. I'm going home," I replied, out of breath as I carefully sat my last piece of luggage down and watched her do the same on her end. We took a step back and I let out a sigh. Yep, I was doing it. I was going home. I hadn't been home in about three years. It was a strange realization to come to as I stood there waiting for the taxi to show up. On the downside, there were many people I had really missed throughout the years. On the upside, at least, I'd had the opportunity to spend plenty of time with my grandfather since he lived in the same city.

"You're crazy," she informed me with a shake of her head. "Violet, you have _everything_ going for you here."

Marissa was right. I did. I lived in a great apartment. I had a great job. I had great friends. But. . .This wasn't Bluebell. It wasn't Konohana, either, for that matter.

Marissa wasn't done talking and snapped me out of my musings. "And you're giving this all up!" She threw her hands up in the air and motioned around the general area. "You're giving it up for milking cows and eating pie."

"Hey. Don't knock my mom's pie. You haven't tried it," I said, lifting an eyebrow in amusement.

She looked a little panicked then. "I-I'm not insulting your mom's pie. I'm sure it is delicious, Vi. And your mother is a wonderful person. And your father is. . ." At that, she got a dreamy little look on her face.

"Ewwww! Come on, Marissa. You know I hate it when you do that," I exclaimed as I smacked her arm.

The first time she'd met my parents, she'd quickly become infatuated with the tall, reserved, handsome man that also happened to be my father. I was fully aware that my father was attractive. Oh who was I kidding? My dad was a hottie! But I certainly didn't want my friends panting over him. Yuck. . .

"Sorry, sorry!" she told me, looking anything but apologetic before she got back on track. "But _really_? Do you know what you're doing?"

I knew what she meant. Here I was, a successful and independent young woman who was leaving the city to return to the middle of nowhere and working on a farm. To an outsider, somebody who didn't know that kind of life, it was a crazy notion. To me, though, it made perfect sense.

I left for college when I was eighteen. My heart was set on going to school to study art and my parents didn't try to stop me. Well, my father was certainly less than pleased with the idea of his little girl going away, but he accepted it. And my mom. . .She had always been about letting me be my own person and make my own decisions. She told me that if I wanted to go away and become an artist then to follow that dream. She told me that if I wanted to stay and work on the family farm, then that would be fine. But she made it abundantly clear that whatever I did would be my choice and she that she would understand and accept it.

So that's what I did. I left home and went away to school. At first, I did what many other college students did and I went home during breaks. The summer right before my senior year, though, I got offered an amazing internship that I could not turn down so I didn't make it home that summer. When I graduated, that internship turned into an amazing job offer that I couldn't turn down. Work happened. Life happened. And before I knew it, three years passed without me going home. My family had visited me, but I hadn't had the time to visit them. Now, though, I was doing more than visiting. I was going home for good.

"I know what I'm doing, Marissa. Don't make that face at me. I do. Look, I don't want to lose our friendship. If you ever feel up to it then you can always come visit me in the middle of nowhere. If you don't want to, then you could always write! The mail carrier will. . ."

"Wow," she cut me off at that. "You really do live out in the boonies, don't you?" I knew that the notion of being cut off from so much technology was a foreign one to her, but it was the way I had grown up and it didn't bother me one bit. She shot me an incredulous look as the taxi came into view. I saw her shoulders drop in defeat as she let out another sigh. "I don't want to lose our friendship either, Vi. I-I don't. . ." She drew in a shaky breath and then shook her head. "We'll make it work, okay? And if I have to walk through knee-high grass to make it to your front door then I will."

I laughed at that, wiping a few tears away before I managed to lose it completely.

"Violet Drayton?" the taxi driver asked as he came to a stop along the curb.

"That's me," I assured him before he got out and made quick work of getting my suitcases in the trunk. He managed most of them with an ease that had Marissa and I feeling like weaklings. Apparently I had been gone from the farm for too long and needed a little manual labor to toughen me back up. The driver did struggle a little on the heaviest one, though, so that made us feel a little better.

"Well, this is it," Marissa said before opening up her arms. "Get over here, you."

She hugged me tightly and I hugged her back, knowing that this moment really was bittersweet. "I'll miss you, M."

"I'll miss you, too," she told me before taking a step back. "Now get outta here before I change my mind and drag you back up those steps."

I climbed into the back of the cab and waved from the window. She waved back and the next thing I knew the city was blurring by me.

Yep, I knew she thought I was insane. I couldn't blame her for thinking that. Other people who graduated with me would have killed for the job I had recently given up. And now somebody who wanted it much more than I did would be lucky enough to get it. That was more fair than somebody whose heart was only halfway in it having the position, right?

The taxi driver had given me a shocked look in the rear-view mirror when I told him where I wanted to go, but he didn't argue with me. He probably thought I was crazy, too, but since he was a stranger he didn't voice it as he drove me out of the city. The city. It was a whole other world from the one I had been born and raised in. There were so many people packed into so many places with so many smells, not all of which were good mind you. And everybody was always rushing here and there without so much as a kind greeting to give one another. At heart, though, I always had been and always would be a country girl. Originally from a quaint and beautiful town by the name of Bluebell, I was used to something completely different from the city.

Fresh air. Wide open spaces. A vastly smaller population. People who stopped to say good morning to one another and make pleasant conversation. . .It was something I had sorely missed in the years since I had gone away to college.

I slipped the appropriate amount of money into the cab driver's hand after he helped me take my bags out the trunk.

"Thanks for the ride," I told him, mindful of the manners that my mother had taught me long ago.

"No problem. I figure you must have a pretty good reason for wanting somebody to bring you all the way out in the middle of nowhere," he said as he closed the trunk back up and took the monster suitcase over to the side of the road.

I wheeled the last bag over and smiled. "Yep. I'm going home," I announced as I heard the sound of a horse approaching.

He walked over to the driver's side door and tipped his hat at me. "Well, good luck little lady. Happy homecoming." With that said, he slipped back inside the car and managed to turn around in the narrow space before going back the way he'd come.

I turned around as the distant sound of the horse grew closer and the wheels of the wagon accompanied that sound. I knew what was coming, who was coming, and I started bouncing back and forth on my feet a little as I waited. The wagon finally came into view, along with my parents, and I felt super pumped up as it came to a stop.

My father said nothing as he hopped down from the wagon and scooped me up into his arms, spinning me around in a circle like he did when I was a little girl. I couldn't fight the giggles that escaped me before my feet finally reconnected with the ground.

"Welcome home, baby," my dad said as he kissed the top of my head and squeezed me tight.

"Cam, stop hogging her," my mom admonished as she grew tired of waiting for her turn. He took a step back and let my mom plant herself between us before she proceeded to attempt to squeeze the air and life right out of me. "I've missed you, sweet girl," she told me as I squeezed her back.

I didn't know what made me feel more happy: the scent of flowers that always seemed to cling to my father or the scent of the special perfume my mom had been wearing since before I was born.

"I've missed you guys, too." My voice was kind of muffled since my father had wrapped his arms around the both of us and made it into a group hug. My face was currently in his chest. When we all took a step back I looked around. "Where's Ollie?"

My little brother was currently absent from the little reunion and I didn't see him around anywhere. I hadn't seen him since last winter when they came to visit me and I was eager to get my hands on him.

"He's at home holding down the fort," my mom explained. "Plus, there wasn't enough room for him in the wagon. . ."

I went to the back of the wagon and looked. Sure enough, it was packed full of stuff. In fact, I was starting to wonder if there would be enough room for my luggage back there. Somehow, though, my mom managed to rearrange things enough for my stuff to squeeze in. My dad cast me a curious look when he made it to that monster suitcase of mine and I shrugged my shoulders, trying to be the picture of innocence.

"What do you have in here, Violet? Bricks?" he asked me after he'd hoisted it up and made sure it was securely in place.

"Oh yeah. Bricks. Rocks. Boulders. A ship anchor," I told him as my mom laughed behind me.

He pulled me back toward him and gave me another hug along with another kiss on top of my head. "It's good to have you back. Smart mouth and all. If you don't want to leave ever again then. . ."

My mom elbowed him gently and my dad started tugging at his hat in response. "Cam! She has to pave her own way in life." She turned to me then and shrugged before adding. "Although, if you _do_ want to stay forever and ever, we certainly wouldn't argue with you."

And that was the biggest nudge in any particular direction my mother had ever given me! It was truly a testament to how much they had missed me. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy and super important.

The three of us managed to fit together at the front of the wagon and mom turned around, heading us back the way they'd come from. I felt butterflies floating around in my stomach. I hadn't been home in so long and I wondered what things would be different and what things would be the same. Ugh, maybe I was being a little too dramatic. I mean, Bluebell and Konohana couldn't have changed _that_ much in a few years. They certainly hadn't changed that much throughout all the years I consistently lived here. Feeling more assured and more calm, I sat squished between my parents and enjoyed the ride home.

Seeing that old, familiar gate come into view had me practically bouncing before my mom pulled to the left and started up our driveway. When the farm came into view, it was truly a sight for sore eyes. I saw somebody standing against the front of the house and I hopped out of the wagon before it even came to a stop.

"Ollie!" I said as I launched myself at my little brother. Well, he wasn't so little anymore. I mean, he was sixteen now! And he had long since outgrown me though he wasn't quite as tall as dad was. He was hoping to have one more burst of growth that would get him there, though.

Oliver let out a little "omph" sound as he caught me and managed not to be knocked over. "Geez, Vi. Are you trying to kill me so you can be an only child again?" he joked as he hugged me back and then sat me back on my feet.

"Ha ha, very funny," I said as I stepped back and looked up at him. "Aaaah. Look at you! Stop growing! I need you to go back to being little and small and tiny and itty bitty and. . ."

"I get it," he told me with a flat tone.

"You're not a cute little baby anymore. You're so handsome!" I told him as I pinched his cheeks. "I bet the girls have been lining up, haven't they?"

I watched as a blush crept across his cheeks before he tugged his hat down to hide those emerald eyes of his. He looked so much like dad in that moment that I couldn't suppress my giggle.

"Okay, Violet," my mom cut in. "Stop embarrassing your brother." I could tell that she was thinking the same thing I was, though, since she looked over her shoulder at my dad and flashed him an adoring smile.

"I'm glad you're home. Even if you're a pain," Oliver said before clearing his throat and trying to escape inside.

"I need help with Violet's luggage." My dad's voice stopped him when he was halfway through the door.

Oliver shrugged and finished opening the door, but hurried over to the wagon to help my dad with my suitcases. Mom and I took the last couple and followed them inside.

"Mom, the house looks great!" I told her as I shut the door behind me and glanced around. "When did we get new furniture?"

"Spring of last year. I _know_ I told you when we did it," she replied before slipping through my bedroom door.

Oliver came out my room and swiped at his head, pretending to be exhausted. "What do you have in that bag? Bricks?"

"Bricks. Rocks. Boulders. . ."

"A ship anchor," my dad supplied as he came out. He must have really been in a good mood today! My dad wasn't usually the type to crack jokes. Hearing him do so made me pretty happy.

"Everything but the kitchen sink," my mom threw in as she made her way toward the kitchen where the sink was surely right where it was supposed to be.

I stood there and just let my gaze roam. I couldn't believe I hadn't been home in three years. It wasn't like I was avoiding it or anything. But life just does that to you sometimes. It just gets in the way without you even realizing it and before you know it, time has passed in what can sometimes feel like the blink of an eye. I was here now, though. I was home. And if my life was going to get busy and hectic and interesting again then it would have to happen here because this was where I was going to be.

 **Disclaimer:** This is a disclaimer for the entire story. I _do not_ own Harvest Moon or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I can only lay claim to the original characters and storyline I've created. I am but a humble fan who had a story to tell.


	2. A Day of Reunions

**Author's Note:** I'm back and I've brought chapter two along, too. Thanks for reading and I hope you continue on this journey with me!

* * *

The rest of the night was great. I helped my mom make dinner and was happy to realize we were making my favorite. In case you're wondering what that is, it's stew. It was an old family recipe that had been passed down and I loved it. For some reason, though, even though I knew how to make it myself it had always tasted better when my mom made it. Perhaps it was just the magical power of moms to make things better, whether it be a scraped knee or food.

The four of us sat around the table and it felt as if I had never left. Wait, no. It wasn't that I had never left. It felt like me leaving didn't matter because I was back where I belonged. Maybe it sounds corny, the whole this is where I belong and home is where the heart is thing. . .Yeah, definitely corny. But if you can't handle my occasional corniness then that's your problem, not mine.

My parents had so many pets at this point that they had asked Eileen to build a whole separate building for the pets to live in. It probably had something to do with the fact that my father couldn't resist any cat in need and would never, _ever_ turn one away. There was only one pet that still took up residence inside our house and that was Rufus. Rufus had been around so long that my mom had him before my parents even got together. He found it difficult to get around these days, due to his age, but he still found his way next to my chair during dinner. I reached down more than once to show him the loving he deserved.

After dinner I stepped back into my room and shook my head. It really was like being in a time capsule. Everything was exactly as I had left it. Even the bulletin board full of pictures was exactly the same. I went over and stood in front of it, looking at the array that I had going on there. All of the faces I had missed were there somewhere. I saw a picture of me and Colby standing in the Bluebell town square with snow in our hair after a snowball fight. Colby was the daughter of Ash and Reina. Considering our fathers were best friends, we had spent a lot of time together when we were little and we had become best friends ourselves. There was a picture of Keiko and Makoto standing under one of his father's fruit trees in Konohana. Keiko was the daughter of Hiro and Nori. Makoto was the son of Mako and Ayame. My eyes glanced at a picture of me and Akito and stayed there. Akito. . .I looked away from the board and started to unpack. There were so many memories up on that bulletin board. So many memories.

The next morning, after breakfast and a large cup of coffee, I went outside with my mom to do some good ole farming. Ugh, I was seriously out of shape and out of practice. Still, though, I managed to be of use and it was kind of like riding a bike. This was something I would never forget how to do. It's like how when a father grooms his child to take over his multimillion dollar company someday. Even if that company were to fall prey to a hostile takeover and the heir apparent was out on the streets and out of luck, that child would never forget what they were taught about running that company. Perhaps I could have come up with a better comparison than that, but I think the idea gets across.

I had been zooming all around trying to do everything that I could possibly do and trying to do them all at pretty much the same time. At one point my mom had said "Violet. Why don't you pick one task to complete and focus on that before moving on to something else?"

Looking like a child who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, I slowed my roll and took it one thing at a time like she had suggested. So much for my ultimate multitasking plan. I couldn't help it though. I was just so eager to help her out. I was sure that by the next day, I would be taking things at a more normal pace. My mom couldn't fool me, though. More than once I spotted her out of the corner of my eye, watching me with a delighted smile on her face.

I had just finished brushing a sheep out in the pasture when I heard "I am _so_ mad at you!"

I knew who that voice belonged to and immediately whipped my head to the side and dropped the brush. "Colby!" I said excitedly as I jumped the fence and met her in a battle of who could squeeze tighter. Colby won. Maybe she really was mad at me since she seemed to be channeling something through her arms. "Why are you mad at me?"

"You didn't tell me you were coming home," she told me as we both let go and I could finally breathe again. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming home?!"

"It was a surprise," I told her in a tone that suggested she should have already figured that out. "I planned on showing up in town and ambushing you in the pasture. Instead, you ambushed me." I thought of something then. "Wait, how did you know I was home? Who ruined my surprise?"

"Your dad told my dad who told my mom who told me," she explained calmly.

"So basically, everybody in both towns know by now?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," she told me with an amused glint in her eyes. "Word around here travels fast. You know, small towns and all that."

Yep. She was right. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Colby poked me on the nose and then shook her head. "You should have told me you were coming. We could have thrown you a surprise party or something."

"I don't need anybody making a huge fuss over me. I just want to integrate myself back into society. Uh. . .meld back into the pot? Be one part of the whole?"

"I get your point, Violet," Colby said with a laugh, looking as if she didn't know what she was going to do with me. "Gosh, I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too," I told her, taking her hands in mine and looking her directly in the eyes. "I always looked forward to your letters and visits!"

Colby had been to the city a few times to visit me and always brought the latest news and gossip with her. And we wrote to each other regularly. Even if we hadn't seen or talked to each other in ten years, though, we would have been able to pick up right where we left off as if we had never been apart. That was the kind of friendship we had.

My mom came out of the barn and spotted the brush sitting next to the sheep. She looked over and saw the two of us and quickly put the situation together. I watched as she grabbed the brush and glanced at us over her shoulder.

"Good morning, Colby."

"Good morning," Colby chimed. She freed one of her hands and gave my mom a friendly wave.

She started brushing the sheep, Mo, who made happy little sounds due to her attention. "Vi, I can finish up here. Go ahead and catch up, okay?"

"Are you sure?" I asked, not wanting to leave her in the lurch even though she'd been handling this job without me for all the time I'd been gone.

"Shoo, shoo," she said with amusement as she used her free hand to gesture toward the driveway that led to the main road.

"Thanks, mom," I said before I hopped the fence back into the pasture and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

It was spring so it wasn't super hot, but it was still warm enough that I had worked up a sweat considering I'd been running around like a chicken with her head cut off. And if I was about to go into town and see people I hadn't seen in forever, I wanted to be a bit more presentable. I took a quick shower while Colby waited patiently. I changed into a pair of jean capris and a white tank top and put on a red plaid shirt over that.

When it got back in my room, Colby was standing at the board looking at all the pictures. "I've always loved this picture," she told me when I came to a stop next to her. I followed her gaze and saw a picture of me, her, and Akito goofing around somewhere on the mountain. "Who took this one?"

"Willow," I responded as I pulled on a pair of shoes. Willow, the daughter of Dirk and the Oracle, was a couple of years younger than me so I had treated her like a little sister growing up. She was my favorite person to explore the mountain with since she had always seemed to know all of its secrets.

"Ah, she's going to give you a piece of her mind when she sees you," Colby spoke in a sage way that suggested she possessed infinite wisdom and all the secrets of the universe.

I couldn't argue with her there. Other than Colby, she was probably going to be the person most upset that I didn't announce my impending arrival. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, which will be soon."

Colby turned her back on the board and swatted my hands away as I started buttoning up my plaid shirt. She even unbuttoned the two I had done. After that, she preceded to fuss with my hair, pulling all of it across my left shoulder and using a jeweled hairclip to secure it in place. I raised an eyebrow. "Come on, lets go into town," she suggested as she linked her arm through mine and steered me toward the door. "Wait," she told me after about four steps. She doubled back to my dresser and dug around until she found some pink tinted lip gloss. She swooped some across my lips and instructed me to rub them together.

"Col, we're just going into town. I know I haven't seen everybody in forever, but there's no need to gussy me up." That was actually one of the advantages to not being in the city anymore. I didn't have to go into full-on makeup mode every time I went out.

"Mmm-hmm," was the only reply she gave me with a strange little smirk.

I suddenly felt nervous as we left my house. I stopped long enough to pet Rufus and say bye to my mom and then we headed out. My mom's new owl, whose name I didn't yet know, had his gaze trained on me from his perch atop a fence, almost as if he knew something I didn't.

The scent of flowers in the air was a far cry from the congested city and I breathed it in as we made our way toward town. It was a path I knew well. I could probably walk it with my eyes closed or in my sleep. Colby kept smiling as if she knew something I didn't know, too. I was starting to think that her and the owl were keeping secrets from me and I didn't like it. As always, it was a short walk and when I found myself standing on the outskirts of Bluebell I had a ridiculously large smile on my face.

Out in the pasture to the left, doing what Colby was probably not doing at the moment, was her father Ash. He didn't notice us at all, so Colby led me over to the fence and we stood there and watched him.

"I wonder how long it will take him to look over in our direction," Colby said as she rested her arms on top of the fence.

I held up my hand and started mentally counting down from five. By the time I was down to one finger, Ash looked over at us.

"The prodigal daughter has returned!" he spoke before he dropped what he was doing and came over to the fence. "Cam told me you were back. How was that city life treating you?"

By the time I got done regaling him with my tales of the big city, I had been hugged about four times and he had ruffled my hair at least three. I was pretty sure that no matter how old I got, there was a part of my godfather that would still see me as the little girl with pigtails I once was.

I had resolved that since I was an adult now, I would call all the other adults by their first names now. So when I finally said goodbye to Ash, I called him Ash. And it had immediately felt quite awkward and wrong as it came out of my mouth. Still, though, I was determined to show that I was a grown woman who was on equal footing with all of the other people in the two towns who were age eighteen and over.

Colby walked around Bluebell with me as I poked my head into every establishment and chatted with every person I had missed during my years of absence. And that was everybody, so. . .

Still, though, I saved Grady's shop for last. I don't know why. Okay, that's a lie. I had a reason for saving Grady's shop for last. Technically, though, it wasn't Grady's shop anymore. He had retired and handed the reigns over to Georgia. Unfortunately, he also passed away quite recently. Georgia's husband, Kana, ran his own animal shop over in Konohana and that wasn't difficult because it was an easy commute via the tunnel. The couple had two sons, Akito and Alan. They also had a daughter named Annabelle.

I walked into the pet store and I saw a head of auburn hair shoot up to see who was entering. Georgia studied me for a second before her eyes widened and she put a hand against her mouth. "Violet! Why, as I live in breathe! Just look at you, all beautiful and grown up!"

I was technically an adult the last time she saw me, but perhaps I looked more grown up and womanly now than I had then.

"It's so good to see you!" I told her as she came out from behind the counter and opened her arms. I went straight into them for a hug. She squeezed me as tightly as she could and I laughed.

"I had to go over to the farm and drag this one into town," Colby said as Georgia let go and I took a step back. She returned to her spot behind the counter and beamed at me.

"Well I'm happy you did! Oh, just look at you. Why, I reckon you look just like your mother did when she first came to town. Mind you, her hair was shorter than yours and a shade or two darker. Still, I'd say you're the spitting image of Lillian!"

"Thank you," I told her. I considered it a compliment whenever somebody told me I was like my mother in any kind of a way. "How are things around here? I'm so sorry about Grady, by the way." I leaned across the counter and put my hand over hers, squeezing it in a gesture of solidarity.

"Bless your heart, you're so sweet. I'm doing fine, though. Times come when something reminds me of him and I have to take a seat and collect myself. I've had my family to help me through it, though, and. . .Oh! We had an arrival bright and early this morning! Did anybody tell you that. . ."

She didn't get to finish her sentence because at that moment, somebody walked into the shop and we all turned our attention to the latest arrival. And it was the one person who I never, ever expected to see. He was somehow taller than he was in my memories, every bit as tall and tan as his father was. The short sleeved shirt he was wearing was tight enough that I could see the muscles underneath that whispered to me about his strength. The long auburn hair that he inherited from his mother was pulled back in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. It looked silky and I knew from personal experience that it was every bit as soft as it appeared.

He was older than he had been the last time I'd seen him and it showed. Then, there was still a boyish quality to his face that he had been on the verge of growing out of. Now, he looked like a _man_. I felt like somebody had punched me in the gut and knocked all the air out of me. It was _him_. It was Akito. _Akito_. I felt like my heart had stalled, only to suddenly start back up again. I then experienced something I hadn't experienced in years.

Boom-clap. My heart beat in an unsteady cadence that I had always associated with Akito's presence.

"Mom, we're running low on. . ." The words died on his lips as his gaze registered his mother, then Colby, and then finally me. I saw his golden eyes, another gift from his mother, widen a little as they came to rest on me. I imagine I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights, standing there shocked the way I was. "Violet," I heard him say my name so low that my ears strained to pick up the sound of it.

"We're running low on what?" Georgia prompted.

Akito shook his head as if to clear it and cleared his throat , too, for good measure. "Horse treats," he told her. "We need to order more in bulk from Raul."

Georgia let out a little sigh and came out from behind the counter again. "I guess I'd better get on that now and head over to Konohana." It was a well-known fact that the horses in Bluebell preferred horse treats from Konohana and the ones in Konohana liked the ones from Bluebell. "Mind the shop while I'm gone, son." She then squeezed my shoulder and said "It really is good to see you, Violet."

Georgia was at the door when Colby said "Wait, I'll go with you. My mom had a few things she wanted me to pick up there anyway." As Georgia waited for her, Colby turned and sent a look my way and at that moment I knew. I knew that she knew Akito was in town and she hadn't warned me! No wonder she was primping me the way she was before we left my house! Speaking of which, I suddenly wished she'd done a little more of that before walking me into the situation she'd walked me into. . .

When both of them were gone it was just Akito and I left in the shop, aside from the animals. There was an awkward silence that followed where I was hyper-aware of my breathing. I was doing my best to keep it normal and steady. I stood there staring anywhere but at Akito for a few moments until I heard him walking across the room. The next thing I knew, he was pulling me into his arms.

My body immediately responded as my arms found their way around him. My mind, though, was slower to arrive at the party.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes," he told me with a big grin as he let me go and I took a couple of steps back. "How long has it been, Vi? What, five years?"

I did a few mental calculations and nodded. Surprise was written on my face. "You know what? I think it _has_ been that long. _Wow_ ," I breathed. I had been nineteen the last time I saw Akito. Now, I was twenty-four. "How have you been?!"

His smile grew some. "I've been good."

' _You look good_ ,' is what I thought. Instead of that, I said "I'm happy for you."

"I've been around the block, you know? I've been out there in the world and I've seen so much. I've accomplished so much. Now that I've finally come back here, though, I'm convinced that there's no place like home."

I raised an eyebrow then. Hearing him say that. . .It was like he had taken a peek inside my head and voiced my thoughts for me. I watched him as he walked away to take up Georgia's former spot behind the counter. He leaned forward with his elbows on the aforementioned counter and said "So how about you? How have you been?"

I pushed a stray strand of hair that had escaped the clip behind my ear and gave myself a mental pep talk. ' _You're a grown woman, not a teenager! Get yourself together and regain your composure! Unleash your inner Cam Drayton!_ '

I approached the counter and leaned against it casually with much more bravado than I was actually feeling after seeing him so unexpectedly. "I've been great, Ki. I got a great job right out of college and my career was going well. It's just. . .I feel the same way. There's no place like home."

We made a deal that day, before I finally walked out that shop with a torrent of feelings rushing through me. We made a deal that sometime, we'd tell each other all about the details of our adventures outside the two towns. And I looked forward to that day, very much. I just hoped I'd be able to pull myself together and maintain my composure when that day came.


	3. Cousin?

Superman had his kryptonite. I had Akito. At least, I did when I was a teenager. I was trying to figure out exactly how I felt about him now. Or perhaps I already knew, but I was trying to be in denial. Even before I became old enough to realize that boys did not equal cooties, I always had a particularly soft spot for Akito. It wasn't until I turned thirteen that I really started to take notice. He was still waiting on the growth spurt that would start him on his path to outgrowing me. And we were at that awkward age where you were wishing you would wake up one morning and suddenly grow into your looks.

Still, though, there was something about him on that day. It was winter. I had tried ice skating on the mountain, in one of the shallow areas of water where my mom liked to hand fish during the warmer seasons. I slipped and fell, though, and ended up flat on my back on the ice. Akito had made his way across the ice and leaned over me to make sure I was okay. His hair was long, even back then, and those auburn locks fell forward as he did so. As I was looking up at him, I realized that I wasn't all that cold down there on all that ice. Akito was smiling at me and the sky was gray, but it was like. . . _sunshine_. My heart suddenly did the boom-clap thing for the first time as he reached his hand down and pulled me up. And even though I had just fallen, quite literally, I'm pretty sure that was the exact moment when I _fell_. That was when I fell for Akito.

I was thinking about that one morning, about a week after my return to Bluebell. I woke up about five minutes before my alarm clock went off so of course my mind wandered to the one subject that had consistently consumed my mind since that day at Georgia's shop. With a sigh, I reached over and hit the button on my alarm clock just before the alarm went off. I had other things to think about today, anyway. Today was the day celebrating the birth of the most amazing and awesome woman to ever live. By that, I mean it was my mom's birthday.

Quickly dressing for the morning, I tip-toed over to Oliver's bedroom door and eased it open. The sight that awaited me made me shake my head. Oliver preferred for his room to be a pigsty. It was chaos. A little order would do his room some good. Oh, wait, there was a little order. He had a plethora of potted plants that he kept neatly arranged in front of his windows. Those were not to be touched or moved out of place. Everything else in the room, unfortunately, was fair game.

I navigated his room as well as I could and went over to the windows, careful not to disturb his plants. I drew back his curtains and let some of the early morning light into his room. When that wasn't enough to wake him, I went over to the switch and turned his light on. Apparently, that also wasn't enough to wake him up so I had to go over to his bed and start shaking him.

"W-Wha. . .? Five more minutes mom. . ." he mumbled as he squinted up at me. "Wait a minute," he said before rubbing at his eyes and looking at me again. "Violet? Geez, I thought you were mom." Before I could say anything about that, he rolled over and pulled the covers over his head.

"Oh no you don't," I told him as I pulled the covers off him. "Did you forget what today is?"

With a roll of his eyes, he glanced over at the table calendar that was on his nightstand. He then threw his legs over the side of the bed and shooed me out of his room, telling me that I couldn't be present when he got dressed. So I then told him that I was present while his diaper was being changed as a baby, as well as for bath time. I also reminded him of all the times he would strip all his clothes and his diaper off and run through the house _and_ around the farm, if he could sneak out the door unnoticed. So he told me, and I quote "I have a new body now." That statement disturbed me enough to have me running for his door. He laughed behind me as I made my departure although I knew his own statement had embarrassed him enough to make his cheeks flame. The thought of my baby brother being so grown up and. . .er. . . _developed_. . .was just too much for my big sister brain to handle.

I quietly hurried to the kitchen and found that my father was already in there and starting up a pot of coffee.

"For mom, hmm?" I inquired with a smile as I went to the refrigerator and started assembling ingredients on the counter.

"Of course," he replied with that shy smile I adored. My dad was so adorable that I fought the urge to pinch his cheeks. Oliver had the misfortune of entering the kitchen at that moment so I satisfied myself by pinching his cheeks instead.

"Hey, hey, hey," he complained, conscious enough of our mother still sleeping to keep his voice down. "Dad, tell her to stop."

I let go of my own accord before my father could even open his mouth. "Here," I told Oliver as I handed him a loaf of bread. "You're in charge of toast."

The three of us set about making my mother's birthday breakfast. My dad handled the drinks, Oliver made the toast, and I took care of the rest of the food. The table was all set and ready to go when she stepped out of the bedroom wiping sleep out of her eyes.

"Happy birthday!" we all said at the same time as she shut the door behind herself.

She raised a hand to her heart and gave us the biggest smile. "For me? Oh, you're all so sweet! I have such a wonderful family!" She walked over to my dad and gave him a kiss. "Thank you," she told him.

"We helped, too," Oliver pointed out from where he stood.

With a laugh, my mom pushed his hair back from his forehead and placed a kiss there. "I know, sweetie. But he helped me make two of the most thoughtful children in the world. I had to thank him for that. I know you and Vi worked hard on breakfast, though, so thank you."

Oliver blushed, looking exactly like our father, and let mom give him a couple more kisses. My dad handed her a cup of coffee so she had to hug me with one arm, but she squeezed me really tight with that one arm.

Dad pulled her chair out and then pushed it in for her once she was seated at the table. He then leaned down closer to her and softly said "It's your day today, my Lily."

I let out a wistful sigh. Someday, I hoped to find somebody as handsome and gentlemanly as my father. All of the guys I had dated in my day didn't even come close to comparing to him. Akito's face quickly flashed through my mind, but I shook my head to dispel that image.

Breakfast was great. After that, my father reluctantly went to work. Oliver unwillingly went to school. And I happily instructed my mother to stay in the house and have a relaxing morning while I tended to the farm by myself. Everything was running smoothly and going just fine. My mom beamed with pride as I finally made my way back inside to change out of my work clothes and head into town.

Sure, my mom had always encouraged me to follow my dreams and aim to be whatever I wanted to be, even if that were to take me far away. I knew, though, that she was beyond happy that I'd made the decision to come home and ultimately take over the farm someday.

When I arrived in Bluebell, Colby was nowhere to be found. Akito wasn't out in his pasture, either, which was actually a relief to me. . .So I decided to head on over to the cafe. I wasn't hungry after that delicious family breakfast, but I was in the mood for a nice cup of tea. As I strolled in, I walked straight into a rock solid wall of. . .something. A pair of arms ensured that I didn't fall back and that was about the time I figured out I'd walked into somebody. As I looked up I saw peridot green eyes and silvery-white hair. When I realized I was looking into the face of none other than Jackson, I just went ahead and threw my arms around him and squeezed him into a hug.

He laughed as I kissed his cheek and then moved around him into the cafe. "What? That's all I get? Not even so much as a hello or a good morning?"

"Good morning," I told him as I approached the counter.

Jackson was my cousin who wasn't my cousin. His mother was like a sister to my father, but not actually blood related. His mother also happened to be my godmother. So he was family in spirit, I suppose you could say. Over the years, my father had drilled that he was my cousin into my head repeatedly, as if he expected me to suddenly forget that for some reason. . .

Jackson closed the door back up and approached the counter. "Good morning."

"I thought you were on your way out," I said as he came to a stop next to me.

"I was," he admitted freely. "It's not every day you see Violet Drayton in Bluebell, though, so I had to seize the opportunity."

With a roll of my eyes, I smacked his shoulder. "You're one to talk, mister. It's not like you've spent the last however many years in Bluebell yourself."

I could see in those green eyes of his that he was conceding defeat since I had a good point. Jackson had left town as well in order to pursue music. Like father like son I suppose. Although in Jackson's case, he preferred to play the piano and guitar. Akito actually knew how to play drums and Makoto had a surprisingly lovely singing voice. Therefore, back in the day, the three of them formed a band. They never could agree on a band name, though, so what they called themselves tended to differ from week to week. That was just for fun, though. At least, for Akito and Makoto it was. Jackson was serious about music and had made quite a name for himself from what I'd heard.

"You're just as sharp as ever, I see," he told me as he ran his hand through his hair.

He was cut off from saying anything else, though, because his mother made her way back to the counter. She reached out across it and took my hands in hers, squeezing them gently.

"How are you today, pretty lady?" she asked me as she let go in favor of picking up the dishcloth she used to wipe down the counter.

"I'm great," I replied as I pointed out a spot to her where somebody had sat down their cup and left a ring of condensation behind. "It's mom's birthday, so we all got up early and made her breakfast. Then I made her relax while I took care of the farm myself."

"You are such a good daughter!" Howard said as he entered the room, still as lively as ever no matter his age. He had always been like a grandfather to me. "Come here, sweetie."

He wrapped me in one of his big hugs I'd always loved and then left the room as quickly as he'd entered it. I stood here kind of confused.

"He's in the middle of planning some new recipe. He's tired of always getting recipe ideas from his friends. He wants to come up with something that they will be scrambling to try out themselves," Jackson explained to me with an amused upturn of his lips because of my quizzical expression.

Laney sat her dishcloth aside, finally satisfied with the cleanliness of the counter. "I plan on hunting your mom down later to give her a birthday gift."

"I'm sure she'll like that."

"I've made her a lovely cheesecake. Just make sure she doesn't shove an entire piece in her mouth all at once, alright?"

"Wait, what?" I asked as the quizzical expression made a return to my face.

"Nothing, nothing. I was just remembering something from a long time ago," she told me with a secretive smile that suggested it was a memory I would have to pry out of my mother at some point rather than her. "So what can I get you this morning?"

"I'm in the mood for. . ." I paused as I considered this. On second thought, I didn't want tea. "A honey shake."

"Coming right up," she said before she turned around and started getting to work.

Jackson followed me over to the table I selected and sat down across from me. "A honey shake? Isn't that out of season? Not to mention unhealthy."

I raised an eyebrow at that one. "It's spring, Jack. Honey is not out of season. You should go foraging with me sometime so you'll know these things. As for unhealthy, I'm fit as a fiddle so it should all be balanced out." Okay, I was fit enough. I was planning on being fit as a fiddle again by the end of spring. I wasn't about to admit that to him, though. . .

He looked skeptical, but decided to let it drop in lieu of going to the counter and retrieving the shake his mother had just put down. He sat it in front of me and returned to his seat.

"You know what I was thinking about earlier?" I asked him right before I took my first sip. A happy little sigh escaped me since it was just as good as I remembered it.

He propped his chin up on the back of his hands as he watched me. "Violet, I don't pretend to know anything that goes on in your head."

"Very funny," I spoke with a quirking of my left eyebrow. "I'm serious, though. Guess."

"You thought about the possibility of polar bears going extinct?"

"Nope."

"You thought about how there's nothing you want to do more than listen to my music?" he threw out there jokingly.

"Oh, you're getting warmer!" I admitted before returning to my shake.

He leaned back and looked really thoughtful after that. "You thought about asking me to write a song for you?"

"No," I said before making a sound that was my best impression of a buzzer. "I'm sorry, but you used all three of your guesses."

"Excuse me, but I don't recall you ever saying I only had three tries," he told me while he pretended to be indignant.

"As the person in charge of this game, I reserve the right to add on additional rules as needed. Anyway, I was thinking about back in the day when you, Akito, and Makoto had your own little band going on."

Jackson laughed at that, obviously thinking back on those days with a certain level of fondness and wistfulness as well. "Ah, those were the days. Artic Freeze."

"Potential Explosion."

"Small Town Rockstars."

"You guys really needed a permanent name," I laughed with a shake of my head.

"Akito always said the perfect name would just present itself someday. Apparently that day hasn't arrived yet."

We were quiet for a couple of minutes after that while I drained the glass of the delicious treat inside. When I was done I decided to break the standstill.

"And. . ."

"And?" he prompted when I trailed off.

"All three of you are home again. You could have a really wonderful reunion performance. Oh! You guys could perform at the fall music festival. Or you could have a mini concert or something. I'm just brainstorming here. I don't know how long you or Akito are planning on staying in town, but it gives you three something to think about."

He looked as if he was truly impressed by my suggestion. "That's a great idea. I'm kind of mad I didn't think of it myself. I think I'll talk to them about it."

"Ah, I forgot to pay your mom," I said as I jumped up with my empty glass and hurried to the counter.

She took the glass, but stopped me before I even got the money halfway out my pocket. "It's on the house, dear."

"You sure?" When she nodded, I finished with "Thanks, Aunt Laney."

I then went back to the table and gave Jackson another kiss on the cheek since I was getting ready to leave.

"Do you kiss every guy in town on the cheek or am I just special?" he asked jokingly.

"Oh, you know, you're my cousin so you get special privileges," I informed him, feeling really lighthearted at the moment.

He got this weird look on his face as he turned his head to stare out the window. "Cousin, huh? I. . ."

"What's that?" I asked when he fell silent. That weird look had shifted to this pinched, kind of painful one so I put a hand on his shoulder and followed up with "Are you okay?"

That seemed to snap him out of his thoughts. He shook his head as if to clear it and looked back at me with an easygoing smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking is all."

I didn't believe him, but I wasn't about to push him on it because I had a feeling he wasn't going to tell me what was up. "Alright. I'll see you later then. Thanks for keeping me company," I told him as I gave him a gentle squeeze on his shoulder, went to the door, and made my way out.

I didn't turn around to confirm it, but I was sure I felt his eyes watching me from the window as I went on my way.


	4. Spilled Seeds and Chocolate Cookies

I just finished reading a truly wonderful book series that I had such a good time reading. Now I'm here to send another chapter your way. I hope you enjoy reading this like I enjoyed reading that series. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Here we go!

* * *

Konohana was always my home away from home. Or rather, it was my second home. Growing up, I spent just as much time in Konohana as I did in Bluebell. I suppose I had my mother to thank for that considering she was the force behind the villages making peace. She was also the person who assembled the materials needed for Eileen to complete the tunnel that linked the two towns.

Even though the two villages weren't _that_ far from one another, they were aesthetically and culturally different. Whenever I set foot into Konohana, I always felt as if I had traveled somewhere foreign and cool. That was the same feeling I got as I stepped through the Konohana side of the tunnel on my way to the seed shop. My mom had taken on a request to water the crops there, but something else came up that she had to do right away. Therefore, she trusted me with the responsibility of getting it done in her place.

As I passed the shipping bin, I stared off over toward the road that led to the farm. A long time ago, my mom once lived on that farm before she decided to stay in Bluebell permanently. These days, Colby's aunt Cheryl lived there along with her husband Phillip and their children. And next to that road was the Konohana animal shop that was owned by Akito's father. I let out a groan as I noticed that Akito was actually out in the pasture there. He didn't see me, though, and I saw him make his way into the barn. Knowing him, he was probably going to dote on his beloved horse, Delilah. The two of them had been thick as thieves ever since she was a colt. Now that I thought about it, though, Delilah was getting up there in age so I was surprised they hadn't relocated her to the Bluebell shop to keep a closer eye on her. Kana commuted to work, but he wasn't there at night.

' _Ugh_!' I thought with a frown as I started walking again and hurried away from the animal shop. I was focusing on Akito again and that was something I did not want to do. So I put some distance between us before he came back out of the barn and noticed me. Once I made it into the actual town of Konohana, I nearly ran right into the mayor.

"Careful, Violet. I've always told you to watch where you're going," Rahi admonished before giving me a friendly pat on the shoulder and continuing on what I assumed was a walk around the village. When I was a kid, I always ran behind Rahi, Ying, and Cheryl. Quite literally. I would run directly behind them trying to keep up with their longer legs and run into them when they stopped. I pestered them to play with me all the time and I kind of idolized them.

Rahi became the mayor last year, after his mother Ina finally retired. The mayor of Konohana had always been a member of their family and I assumed that one of Rahi's children would fill those shoes someday as well.

I stopped at the request board to see if there were any requests I might want to take on myself, but none of them were striking my fancy.

"I'm assuming that watering can in your hand means you'll be watering my crops today?"

I turned around and found Keiko standing just within the boundaries of her yard, next to the big hedge. Keiko had the youthful face of her father along with the hair and poise of her mother. She had commented many times through the years, though, that looking so young made her feel like everybody around her thought she was twelve. Of course I told her that considering she was taller than me, nobody would make that mistake. And besides, the advantage of having such a youthful face was that when she was forty, she'd look thirty.

"That's right," I told her with a mock salute as I made my way across the road and entered her yard. "Violet Drayton at your service. Go easy on me because living in the city made me soft."

"You silly goose," she teased me as she closed the door behind her. "You're as tough as they come. And I know this because I cried like a baby that time you broke your leg and you didn't shed a tear."

I remembered that. I had been on the mountain with Willow. We weren't supposed to be up there since our parents didn't like for us to be up there without adult supervision. I was six at the time and Willow was about four. Usually we explored the mountain together under the watch of our parents, but they never let us jump on the big mushrooms and our young minds couldn't fathom why. Since I was older, I told Willow I would go first. I managed to climb up onto the big mushroom with a boost from her. I jumped up and that felt great. It was exhilarating. But I didn't get up high enough to reach the ledge I was aiming for and when I started coming back down, I panicked. I started flailing my limbs and then I missed the mushroom altogether. I landed on my leg and it snapped like a twig.

Willow ran crying back to Konohana to get help and Doctor Hiro hurried to where I was. Keiko tagged along with him because she was worried about me and immediately proceeded to burst into tears. She was wrong, though. I did cry. I managed to hold it together when it happened, for little Willow's sake. How, I don't know because I was only six and that was the worst physical pain I'd ever felt in my life. I held it together when the doctor came because I didn't want Keiko to be more upset. I even held it together as I was being transported to the clinic. Once I was in the privacy of the clinic and my parents came rushing through the door, though, I bawled like a little baby. I never told anybody that, though.

Keiko gave me a hug and then motioned her arm toward the field. Almost everybody in Konohana had their own field of crops. And sometimes, when they were too busy with other things to do it, they would put up requests for somebody else to get it done.

"I know it won't take you long to take care of this. Come in and chat with me when you're done. I'll be busy, but I can talk and work at the same time."

With that said, she made her way into the shop and I turned my attention toward her field. Keiko truly had a green thumb, and that's the opinion of a woman coming from a family full of green thumbs. I tended to her crops with all the care I would take with my own. The sound of the nearby river was soothing as I went about my work. When I was done, I put my empty watering can inside my rucksack and made my way into the seed shop.

I could see immediately why Keiko needed somebody to do the watering for her. Seeds were all over the floor! And there was Keiko, kneeling in the midst of them, careful sorting them and returning them to their proper bags.

"Oh no, Keiko! How did this happen?" I asked as I got down on my knees and started sorting seeds right along with her, quickly adapting to the little system she had going.

She let out a sigh and scooped up a handful of turnip seeds before depositing them into a bag. "One of the dogs over at the farm wandered off without them knowing and ended up in here. This is the result."

"Why don't I see Phillip over here helping you clean up the mess?" I asked, a little angry.

She saw the look on my face and hurried to clarify. "Oh they offered. Believe me, they did. But Cheryl is expecting a new baby and there are. . .complications. My father has put her on bed rest and I didn't want to make him leave her side."

My anger dissipated as soon as it had appeared. I hadn't thought of that, but she was right. Phillip shouldn't have to leave Cheryl at such a pressing time.

"Besides," she continued as she finished up another bag. "Makoto is coming soon to help me finish this up. I'm sure he will make sure everything is back as it should be before my mother gets back into town. I'd hate to have her see the shop this way."

I smiled at that, thinking about the tall, dark, handsome, and gruff guy who would be assisting her. Underneath that facade of his, he really was a big teddy bear. But he always had been and always would be the biggest sucker for Keiko. She'd had him wrapped around her finger since we were kids. They'd been a couple forever. They were the quintessential childhood sweethearts. I found myself envious sometimes because they were so perfect together. It had actually been her who convinced him to be the singer in Jackson's band. He certainly wouldn't have agreed to otherwise.

"I see. So what is he up to these days?" I asked since I had hardly seen him since my return to town. Makoto was the kind of guy who you usually had to hunt down if you wanted to see him and I'd been keeping busy so I hadn't had much of an opportunity.

"He's been making secret plans for Spring Harmony. He's planning on making me something special, but he won't tell me what. Apparently he's been baking different recipes each day, though."

Ah, Spring Harmony. The day when guys were supposed to give girls assorted chocolate goodies. Over the years, as the relationship between the two towns got even better, some of their holidays started mixing together so that both towns celebrated together. This was one of those holidays. I refrained from commenting about it and looked up to see Keiko raising an eyebrow. "What?" I asked as I continued to sort.

"Are you not looking forward to Spring Harmony?" she asked with a slight frown, sitting back on her legs as she assessed me.

"It's not that. I just haven't thought about it since I got back into town."

I was saved from hearing what she was going to say next as I heard somebody enter the shop behind me.

I looked over my shoulder and as expected, there was Makoto. He was standing there in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, a surly look on his face as he assessed the damage. His gaze finally settled on Keiko and his expression immediately softened. He hurried into the room and lifted her up as easily as if he were picking up a book before sitting her on her feet.

"I'll take care of this," he told her as he immediately dropped to his knees and started working.

"We can do it together," she told him as she started to bend down.

"I'll take care of this," he repeated. Keiko stood there for about fifteen seconds as she figured out whether she wanted to fight him on it or not. And while I knew she probably would have been able to convince him to let her help, she ultimately decided to respect his wishes.

After five or so more seconds, Makoto looked over at me, looking like he was considering picking me up and sending me away, too. So I raised my hands in front of me in surrender and hopped to my feet. He gave me the smallest hint of an amused smile before returning to what he was doing.

"Well, it looks like he has everything covered here. I think I'm going to head out," I told Keiko as I adjusted my rucksack.

"Thank you for helping," she said as she satisfied herself with bending down and collecting the completed bags since Makoto wasn't going to let her down anything else.

Makoto grunted in my direction, which I took as a thank you as well as a goodbye. What more can you expect from the strong, silent type? Makoto hadn't always been the strong silent type, though. He used to be more talkative and outgoing when we were children. His personality steadily shifted the older he got. I wouldn't complain, though, because talkative or silent, I liked Makoto just the way he was. I snapped out of these thoughts before I waved at them and exited the shop.

If there was one thing my father was not particularly fond of, it was chocolate. He wasn't big on sweets in general, but he especially disliked chocolate. Therefore, on Spring Harmony day, he always wrinkled up his nose whenever I came walking into the house with something chocolate. Part of that was because he was unhappy with the idea of boys giving me chocolate. The other part was the chocolate itself. Too bad for him considering I was an avid lover of all things chocolate.

I woke up that morning to the smell of something chocolate and delicious floating under my door. Naturally, this made me curious so I quickly got out of bed and went to see what was up. I wasn't expecting to see what I saw, let me tell you. Okay, so here's what it was. In the kitchen I found my dad wearing an apron and a frown. He looked absolutely adorable. My mom chose a real winner. What shocked me even more was the sight of my brother, looking exactly like my father only minus the apron and with chocolate on his chin. How come the most interesting things around our home always happened in the morning?

"Well what do we have here?" I spoke as I left my spot in the doorway and came further into the room. "The Drayton men are hard at work, I see."

I gave my father a good morning kiss on the cheek and he kissed me on my forehead. I then tried to pull Oliver down for a kiss, too. He resisted at first, but he relented during my second attempt.

"Good morning, kiddo," dad said as he picked up a bowl and stirred what was in it.

"Are you making mom a chocolate party cake?" I asked him. The fact that he despised chocolate, yet he was willing to make my mother a chocolate treat was something in and of itself. The fact that he was willing to make her the chocolate treat he despised the most was a testament to the deep and unyielding love they shared.

My father could cook, but when it came to baking he wasn't as talented. Still, though, my mother always ate whatever he made her on Spring Harmony with a smile on her face. I obviously didn't get my baking talent from him. I actually baked his birthday cake when I was only seven and I worked at the cafe making the desserts as a part-time job when I was a teenager.

"Of course I am," my dad said, bringing my mind back to the current events.

I looked over at the chocolate donuts Oliver had cooling on the corner and reached for one. He promptly slapped my hand away.

"Oww," I said as I rubbed my hand.

"These, we made for you," he told me as he pushed a plate of chocolate cupcakes toward me."

"Aww, thanks," I said to them both as I pulled the plate over and picked up a cupcake. "But wait. . .if this is for me then who are those for?" I asked as I pointed to the donuts.

Oliver immediately blushed at that and I knew I just struck gold. "Nobody," he said emphatically.

I smiled sweetly at him as I asked "Who is she?"

"W-Who is who?" he asked incredulously while looking over at my dad for help. My dad was too busy with what he was doing to notice. Or perhaps he was just making a conscious decision to stay out of it. . .

"Who is the girl you made those donuts for?"

"I didn't make these for anybody," he told me then, avoiding eye contact.

"Okay, don't tell me now. I'll find out later, though," I warned before I took my cupcakes and left the room. Perhaps I could be called a nosy big sister, but I felt I had the right to know the identity of the young lady who had caught my brother's eye. I started mentally cataloging all of the girls around his age in the two towns in an attempt to figure out which one it was. There was Kimberly, Colby's younger sister. Willow's younger sister, Serena, was also a contender. Then again, I certainly couldn't count out Akito's sister Annabelle. All of them were about the right age to make Oliver's heart go boom-clap and I would find out which one it was eventually, I was sure.

After my farm work was done for the day, I got a surprising visitor as I was coming out the door on my way to town. I had one foot out the door when I looked up and noticed Alan, Akito's younger brother, with his hand raised to knock.

"Oh, hey Alan," I said with one hand on the doorknob, not sure if I should call Oliver out to talk to him or just let him in. Oliver, Alan, and Serena's twin brother, Dale, were all as thick as thieves in the same way Akito, Jackson, and Makoto were growing up.

"Violet," he said rather smoothly, looking much more like Kana in the face than Akito did. The fact that his hair was brown also helped add to the effect. "It's nice to see you."

"You, too," I replied before I pointed my thumb back behind me. "Did you want me to go get Oliver for you?"

"Actually," Alan said as he shook his head. "I came to see you." He then handed over a plate of chocolate cookies.

I raised an eyebrow as I accepted the plate. "Uh, well, thank you." It's not that it wasn't a nice gesture. It's just that I found it weird for one of Oliver's friends to give me something.

"I have somebody special on my radar right now. If that doesn't work out, though, I just wanted you to know that there could be hope for us after all."

This quickly took a turn into Weird Town. "Hope for who?"

"You and me," he responded simply, as if that were that.

"Alan," I said patiently. "That's not gonna. . ."

"Shhh," he said with a smirk and a finger to his lips, effectively cutting me off. "It's okay, girl. I understand. These feelings aren't something you want to talk about yet. Listen, I have to go but I'll see you around. Later."

And with that said, he turned and walked away, leaving me standing in my door with a shocked expression on my face and a plate of cookies in my hand.


	5. Spring Harmony

I made the decision not to tell Oliver that one of his best friends just showed up at the door and hit on me. The last thing I was expecting was for a sixteen year old boy who I'd known since he was born to try something like that. I also didn't plan on eating those cookies, even if they did look delicious. I just wasn't about to accept something like that from Alan. It was one thing when I assumed it was just a friendly gesture. It was something else completely different to accept cookies from a teenager who was coming on to you. He walked away before I could give them back to him, though, so. . .they ended up on the kitchen counter. Oliver didn't share our father's aversion to chocolate so he would probably end up eating them.

With my rucksack thrown over my shoulder, I finally exited the house and only got a few steps away from the door when I felt something hit my legs. I looked down and saw Rufus at my feet. His tongue was hanging out his mouth and he was wagging his tail. I crouched down and rubbed him behind the ears.

"What's up, boy? Do you have something chocolate for me, too? No? That's okay. It's the thought that counts."

He barked happily and licked my chin. Another of our dogs, Comet, came over to get some attention as well. And my dad's favorite cat, Mittens, made her way onto my shoulder. Once I'd given all of them the attention they wanted, I continued on my way. At the end of my driveway, I found none other than Willow waiting for me. Colby had been right before. Willow had raked me over the coals for not telling anybody other than my parents that I was coming home. After about ten minutes of that, though, she got over it.

"He hasn't given me any chocolate," she announced in lieu of a greeting once I got close enough to hear her.

"Come again?" I asked, not sure I'd heard her correctly.

"He hasn't given me any chocolate," she repeated, crossing her arms over her chest and blowing at a strand of pink hair that the wind blew into her face.

" _He_ being. . .?"

"Zhen," she informed me before she got a sad look on her face.

Zhen was the great-nephew of Sheng, the blacksmith who used to live in Konohana. He passed away when I was fifteen and he had an immense love for pandas. Zhen moved to town not long after his passing and took up his position as a blacksmith.

"Willow, you do know he's like. . .thirty, right?" There was an eight year age gap between them.

"Age is just a number," she said decidedly to that.

I could see what she saw in him. Every girl around our age had at least a small crush on Zhen when he first moved to town. Keiko did, too, though her love for Makoto obviously outweighed that. He was so cool and mature and handsome with his jet black hair, blue eyes, and five o'clock shadow. The boys even called their band Five O'Clock Shadow for a while there after Zhen came. . .

"Well the day is still young. He might give you something chocolate yet. Don't give up hope until somewhere around six in the evening, okay?"

Willow seemed to ponder that in her head. Eventually, she gave me a satisfied smile and a nod. "You're right. The day is still young. The day is still young. The day is still young," she said, repeating my words like a mantra as she walked away back toward Konohana. And all of this happened before I even made it within five feet of her.

I heard soft laughter and looked off to my right. It was Eileen, returning from her morning walk. She offered me a wave and continued on her way. I fell into step behind her as I headed into Bluebell myself. As soon as I made it into town, I scoured the pasture to the left and saw no sign of Colby. So I entered her family's shop and found Ash behind one end of the counter and Kim at the other. I could see Jessica sitting in her favorite chair, knitting something that was probably going to be for Cheryl's baby once it was born. Now that her son was married and there were enough people to handle the farm, Jessica was retired and taking it easy. She had hobbies to keep her busy and she seemed to be doing fine.

"Hey, Violet. Are you swimming in chocolate yet today?" Ash asked as I stopped in front of the counter.

"More like wading in it. Is Colby here?"

"I think she's in Konohana right now with Reina. I'm sure you two will run into each other at some point today," he replied.

"Alright. Thanks. Good morning, Kim." I made my way closer to her end of the counter and did a quick sweep with my eyes for a chocolate donut sighting. If she was the recipient of Oliver's gift, then she must have put them up somewhere or else he hadn't given them to her yet.

"Morning, Violet," she said softly, almost reluctantly. Kimberly was actually _much_ more like Reina than Colby was. In fact, Colby wasn't really anything like Reina except she looked like her. Ironically, Kim was like Reina and looked more like Ash. And she would probably much rather spend her days researching plants with her mother. Yet there she was, helping to mind the shop. "Are you looking for something?"

"Hmm?" I asked, trying not to look like I'd gotten caught with my hand in the cookie jar. "No. Nothing, nothing. If you guys see Colby before I do, will you let her know I was looking for her?"

"Sure thing," Ash promised before I waved goodbye and headed back out the door.

Our group had a tradition. Every Spring and Winter Harmony, we gave everybody within the group something. We did it to make sure nobody got left out because they were single or their significant other wasn't in town. Even Makoto and Keiko participated in this, although whatever they gave each other was always more thought out and extravagant than what they gave the rest of us. I certainly didn't blame them for that, though. I wondered what the boys had given Colby so far. Whatever Willow had received, it obviously paled in comparison to what she was anxiously hoping she'd get from Zhen. . .

I went about my daily routine of going to the request board and checking to see if there was anything I'd like to do. I saw that Eileen was requesting chamomile and moon drop flowers so I snatched that one up. Chamomile was technically an herb, as my father had reminded me countless times, but Eileen still liked to use it in the wreaths she made to hang above the door of her shop. She wasn't really a fan of tea so I doubted she wanted it for that purpose.

I went to the town square and sat my rucksack down on one of the benches so I could rifle through it. I thought I might have had at least one moon drop flower in there already and I wanted to find out for sure before I scoured the mountain. Glancing over, I noticed that my parents were both behind the counter of my dad's shop. He was searching through his flowers and my mother stood there patiently with a bright smile on her face. That was their routine on the weekend. He always gave her a flower reading.

Luckily for him, many flowers had more than one meaning and whenever he was out of town on Mondays, he always sought out different flowers that were in season that he didn't currently have in his inventory. I was pretty sure that despite this, though, he wasn't always able to come up with something new for her considering this had been going on for a couple of decades already. Perhaps neither of them reminded repeating. I had a theory that he'd started making up meanings just to have something different and romantic to say to her, but if that was the case then I knew he wasn't going to fess up.

"Did you lose something?" I heard a voice behind me say. I turned around and there was Jackson. He was wearing a blue shirt dedicated to some obscure band I'd never heard of. I wondered if he'd ever played with them or if he was just a fan. Artistically speaking, the design on the shirt was great and I kind of wished I'd come up with it myself.

"Nope," I said, realizing I'd been staring at his chest for too long and didn't want him to get the wrong idea. If the situation had been reversed then I most certainly would've gotten the wrong idea. I looked back down into the contents of my rucksack. "I'm just seeing if I have what I need to fulfill a request. Otherwise I'll have to go. . ."

"Foraging in the mountains," he finished for me.

"Yep. Don't forget I'm going to take you with me one of these days."

It's not that Jackson never went up on the mountain. He did. He liked to accompany his father up there on his daily walks sometimes. It's just that Jackson had never taken an interest in fulfilling requests and he never went out of his way to explore the nooks and crannies like Willow and I always had. It's like how you can pass by the same tree every day and never notice the texture of the bark or the hole in its trunk. It's a case of big picture versus small details, I suppose.

"Duly noted. Do you have what you need?" he asked just as I was giving up on my search.

"No, but it's not a big deal," I told him as I started to close up my rucksack.

"Hey, don't close that up yet." I gave him a curious expression as I pushed some hair behind my ear and looked up at him. Jackson ran back to the cafe and my curiosity increased as I watched him go. I saw my father's head turn and follow Jackson's sprint into the cafe before it whipped around and he laid eyes on me. I smiled and waved at him. His eyes narrowed as he looked back at the cafe. My mother said something that pulled his attention back to her, though, just before Jackson came hurrying back out with something in his hands. He slowed to a walk by the time he reached the stairs, but he still reached me pretty quickly. "Here."

He held a wrapped plate of something out to me and I was pretty sure it was something chocolate.

"Thanks," I said, taking the plate and pulling back the foil. "Brownies?!" It was an absolute fact that I _loved_ brownies.

"Yeah. There are even little waln. . .Whoa. I forgot how much you like to stuff your face. Literally. Like, stuffing it in. . ."

"Hush, you," I said with a light little slap to his arm before I finished off the brownie I was in the process of decimating.

"How do they taste?" he asked as I started on my second brownie.

I paused with it halfway to my mouth and answered with "Delicious. Did you bake these yourself, Jack?"

I asked because him baking would be surprising. Jackson wasn't one known to cook. He participated in the cooking festival once when we were thirteen and that was enough to ensure he never did again. Apparently he hadn't inherited that particular talent from grandfather and his mom.

"Actually. . .no. My mom made them. But I paid for them myself, I'll have you know."

"That counts," I said with a laugh before I finished off that second brownie and wrapped the plate back up. I sat it right at the top in my rucksack and realized I was now officially out of room. My rucksack held a lot of stuff, but it had finally reached its full capacity.

I noticed Jackson looking at something over my shoulder so I turned to see what had his attention. Mikhail was standing in the doorway of Town Hall looking straight at his son. He motioned him over before waving his hello to me. I waved back at him before turning my attention back to Jackson.

"Sorry," he said with a shrug. "Duty calls. I'll see you, Violet." He leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the cheek. He lingered there for about two seconds longer than necessary before pulling back.

"Later," I said as he took off toward where his father was waiting.

As I slipped my rucksack back onto my shoulders, I made the split second decision to go visit Diego and Enrique. Of course, one of the first things they made mention of was the fact that they were completely sold out of chocolate and had made quite a profit from the holiday. They were selling some new cool looking toys so I got some for the cats and dogs at home. Of course, I then realized that I had no more room in my rucksack so I stuffed said toys into my pockets.

I kind of wanted to get started on that request, but I also wanted to go over to Konohana. The request didn't need to be completed right away and I still hadn't found Colby yet, so I decided on going to Konahana. I was on my way to the tunnel when I heard somebody calling my name.

"Violet!"

I instantly recognized the voice and I felt conflicted. Akito.

' _Maybe he doesn't see me yet and is just calling out my name and I can just hurry through the tunnel. . .But I do want to see him, you know, it's just. . . Then again, it's probably for the best if I. . ._ ' I thought as I hesitated in front of the tunnel.

"Are you going to turn around or am I going to have to stare at your back all day?" he asked with some amusement in his voice.

Well he'd obviously spotted me. It would be rude to leave him hanging. I turned around and there he was, standing in the middle of the road with his hands in his pockets. The end of his ponytail was trailing over his shoulder and onto his chest, the light catching those auburn strands and glinting off them. As I walked up to him I noticed that he smelled like laundry detergent, just as he always had. You know, the kind that makes you want to hold a shirt up to your nose and sniff. . .

"Sorry," I told him as I stood there trying not to be awkward. It was incredibly frustrating. I never use to be awkward around Akito. Well, perhaps I was a little awkward during the time immediately following when I realized how I felt about him. . .I got over that, though, that awkwardness. It had always been so easy being friends with him and now things felt so weird. And it was me, I knew it was me. It's just. . . "What's up?"

"Did I do something, Vi?" he asked, cutting right to the chase and catching me off guard.

"Wait, what?"

"If I didn't know any better, Violet, then I'd think you've been avoiding me," he told me then, peering down at me as if he could see right through me. "Like the plague," he added. I should have known he could sense the awkwardness. I was actually surprised it took him this long to call me out on it.

I've never pretended that I don't occasionally tell lies so I hit him with "I haven't been avoiding you. I've just been busy readjusting and helping my mom. I've been taking on a lot of requests, too." Most of that was the truth, you know.

"So I haven't done anything?" he tried to clarify, bringing us back to his original question.

' _No_ ,' I thought as I bit at my bottom lip. ' _You did nothing aside from innocently turning back up in my life and reigniting a whirlwind of unresolved emotions. It's not like you could help that._ ' And just like that, I felt bad. Akito had been my friend since we were in diapers and I'd hurt him by making myself as scarce as possible. It wasn't his fault that I was having a hard time working through my feelings. He didn't deserve that. I made the decision right then and there to do better, for Akito.

"Of course not, Ki. Look, I'm sorry you got the impression I was avoiding you. If it'll make you feel any better, I'll make a conscious effort to stalk you from now on. I'm serious. From now on, I'll be hiding behind trees and buildings watching you and then I'll jump out and harass you when the time is right. I'll stare at you through windows and I'll fog up the glass and draw pictures to get your attention. You'll never have peace ever again."

He stood there for a total of four seconds before bursting out in laughter. "Ah, I've missed this," he told me as he tried to contain his amusement. He failed. "Nobody makes me laugh like you do, you know that?"

I reached out and cautiously placed my hand on his shoulder. Lightning didn't strike me where I stood. The world didn't stop spinning. And just like that, I felt most of the awkwardness melt away. Akito was Akito, just as he always had been. And I was Violet. He was my friend. And friends didn't act the way I had been.

"I'm glad to hear it. I'll be sure to tell you a joke while I'm hiding behind your curtains."

He did several things at once just then. He closed his eyes with a little smirk on his lips. He also shook his head while brushing his bangs back. "Alright. I think I have just the thing to keep you busy while you're behind my curtains. I mean, watching me will probably get boring after a while so you'll need something to entertain you."

"You don't say?"

"I do say," he told me as he opened the bag he had slung across his left shoulder. He pulled out a small plastic cake plate. It had that frosted look to it so I couldn't see what was inside of it. "Here."

"Chocolate!" I said as I accepted it. "I love it. Thank you!"

"You haven't even seen what's inside yet," he pointed out reasonably.

"True. But you can't go wrong with chocolate," I pointed out just as reasonably. I then carefully unsnapped the sides and pulled the lid up. "Oh my goodness, Ki. Is this chocolate pie?!"

"That it is."

"How did you know?" I asked softly, shocked that he'd thought to give me this particular dessert. I had actually never had chocolate pie before until about a year after I went away to college. Marissa and a few others had suggested we go to this buffet for lunch. They didn't have the best selection of desserts, actually, but they had magical mini chocolate pies. They weren't actually magical, just so delicious that I felt the need to attach the word to them. I had been hooked ever since.

"There was this little diner not too far from my campus and I went there for lunch one day. Instead of apple pie, though, they were serving chocolate pie. As soon as I saw it I thought about you and how it was exactly the kind of thing you'd love. I might have convinced the cook to give me the recipe. . ."

I put the lid back on and snapped it up. There was no more room in my rucksack, thanks to the addition of Jackson's brownies, so I knew I was going to have to take it back home. In fact, I had no idea what I'd been thinking before when I'd decided to head over to Konohana without lightening my load beforehand. I still had those pet toys in my pockets and everything.

"You were right," I confessed, surprised by how well he knew me. "I love this. Thanks, Ki, really. This is great. I'll be sure to repay you with something just as delicious for Winter Harmony."

He swiped a brownie crumb off my shirt that I hadn't realized was there and shook his head at me, trying not to smile. "You're welcome, Vi. I'll be looking forward to it."

That was when the rest of the awkwardness faded away.


	6. Summer Blessing or Summer Curse?

Hi! I'm back with a new chapter that I hope you'll all like. Thank you for reading. Thank you to my lovely reviewers, your feedback made me smile. I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner next time, but until then here's this one.

* * *

Before I knew it, spring turned into summer and the weather only got hotter. Fortunately for me, summer was actually my favorite season. When other people grumbled about the heat and wished for cooler weather, I basked in the bright light of the sun. It was always easier for me to cool down than it was for me to heat up. Other people disagreed with me. And that is what brought on the argument I had with my brother on the first day of summer.

"I just don't understand you."

"Yes you do. You just don't agree with me, Oliver."

He tugged at his hat and I had the distinct feeling he might be rolling his eyes at me under there. I couldn't be sure, though. "Violet, cooler weather is better. You can always put on more layers, but there are only so many you can take off before it becomes indecent. Or illegal."

I took his hat off his head and ruffled his hair before putting it back on. Of course, I had to reach up to do it. "You're adorable, Ollie. I'm glad you don't think the same way other teenage boys do." At that, I remembered Alan's uncomfortable Spring Harmony antics.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked me as I walked away.

"It's a compliment," was all I would say as I went to my bedroom. The Drayton men were the cream of the crop, it seemed.

It was a slow day around the farm. The seeds we needed for our summer crops hadn't come in yet, but Keiko promised me she would personally hunt me down herself when they did. All that had been planted so far were flowers. My mother had lived in Konohana before she moved to Bluebell. Then she'd moved to Konohana again before finally returning to Bluebell for good. During that time, she'd learned a thing or two about both taking care of animals _and_ growing crops.

Back in the day when the Bluebell farm was still small, she didn't have room to grow much and for a while there, she was more interested in taking care of animals anyway. Nowadays, though, the farm had been greatly expanded so she could take care of all the animals her heart desired and she could also grow as many crops as she wanted. Of course, that meant there was a lot of work to do but she handled it like the pro she was and had taught me accordingly.

Still, though, without those seeds there was considerably less to do. Therefore, that left me with ample time on my hands to enjoy the first day of summer. And summer had literally arrived overnight. It was warm the day before and then BAM. Hot. This made me quite happy. I took the opportunity to dress in a pair of blue jean shorts, a sleeveless purple and white striped shirt, a floppy white sun hat, and a pair of sandals.

There was one task I absolutely had to do today, and that was an errand my mom had sent me on. A couple of our tools were in need of repair, so naturally that meant I would have to go drop them by Zhen's shop. When Zhen took over Sheng's place, he'd expanded a little bit. In addition to being the local blacksmith, he was also a jewelry maker. And as an artist, I was of the opinion that his creations were top-notch.

Stepping into Zhen's shop, it was easy to see the various little remodels he'd had Eileen assist him with. He'd kept the essence of Sheng's home in tact, but he'd put his own flair on it to make it his business. He showcased tools alongside elegant jewelry in a case next to the front counter he had put in.

"Knock, knock," I said as I entered and found Zhen toward the back of the room. He appeared to be looking for something in a box.

"Violet," he said, standing up straight and pinning me with those clear blue eyes of his. He bowed slightly at the waist. "It's a pleasure seeing you here. Can I help you with something?"

In case you were wondering, Willow did ultimately end up with chocolate. From a secret admirer. And I'd had to hide over by the shipping bin when I saw Zhen hurrying away from her house so I knew for a fact it was him. I didn't tell Willow that, though, for two reasons. Firstly, Zhen made the decision to leave the gift anonymously and who was I to bust him out like that when it wasn't my business? Secondly, Willow was convinced it was him so why tell her what she already knew in her heart to be true?

"My mom sent me with a few tools she wants repaired. If you don't have time right now, it's no rush. I can come back later if you want."

He stroked his chin as he considered my words. "I do have a few things I need to get done, but if you leave them here I will certainly have them ready by the time you return." He took his normal place behind the counter then and watched me expectantly.

"Alright." I slid my rucksack off my shoulders and pulled out the tools she'd sent. He picked them up one by one as I sat them on the counter to give them a quick inspection. They also happened to be tools that were originally made by Sheng, and Zhen always relished the opportunity to marvel at his predecessor's craftsmanship.

"You and your mother take such good care of all your tools. This damage is minimal, but I can understand her concern. It is always best to take care of a problem as soon as you can to prevent it from becoming worse."

I appreciated his compliment so I felt to need to bestow one of my own. "Is this necklace here new?" I asked, pointing to the piece of jewelry that had caught my eye. It was a simple silver chain with an amethyst pendant, but I loved the simple beauty of it. "It's gorgeous." Purple was my favorite color. Well, anything within that general color category, really. Purple, violet, lavender, wisteria, lilac, and even eggplant were all awesome to me. That, I inherited from my father.

"Ah, that happens to be my latest creation. I'm so glad you like it. It's not one of my more flashier pieces, but. . ."

"It has an understated beauty. That's what I like about it." It would also go well with my shirt, I noticed.

"Thank you," he said with a nod of his head. After a few seconds of silence, he continued with "As for your tools, the repairs won't take long. Like I said, the damage is minimal. Do you have the. . .?"

"Oh yeah, sorry," I told him as I handed over the materials he'd need to perform said repairs. Once he had everything he needed, I put my rucksack back on and said "I'm going to head out now so you can do what you need to do. See you later, Zhen."

"Later, Violet."

I checked in on Cheryl and Phillip before I continued on my way toward Konohana. Cheryl was taking it easy. She was taking it especially easy since Jessica had decided to pop in for the day and was making sure she stayed put.

I was on my way down the road heading right on by Kana's shop when I noticed _him_ out the corner of my eye and I stopped dead in my tracks. He was out in the pasture with one of his family's horses. His shirt was hanging over the fence not too far from me. It wasn't a random shirt he'd just left laying around, no. It was obviously the shirt he'd been wearing today considering he wasn't wearing one at the moment. Akito's hair was loose for once, cascading past his shoulders down the top of his back, just above the muscles I could see rippling there. In fact, everywhere I looked I could see muscles rippling. It was like somebody had thrown a big rock in a lake, there was so much rippling going on. While the summer heat was definitely a factor, I felt my body temperature rising by the second for a different reason.

' _I'm not sure if the Harvest Goddess is giving me a gift or cursing me a thousand times over_ ,' I thought with a silent groan borne of my inner turmoil. My heart was boom-clapping again and I could literally hear that unsteady beat pounding in my ears.

I slowly walked down the road and tried not to look like I was staring even though I definitely was. He finally glanced over in my direction and I quickly whipped my head back forward and pretended like my eyes were glued ahead of me.

"Hey, Violet!" he called out, trying to get my attention. I was surprised the sound of my heartbeat didn't drown his words out.

Coming to a stop, I glanced over my shoulder and peeked out from under the brim of my hat. He walked over to the fence "Akito, hi. I see you're hard at work today." I took a few deep, steadying breaths, striving to calm myself down. So far, it wasn't working. At least I was doing a commendable job of maintaining my composure.

"I am. Tiramisu here has been a good girl, though, so at least there's that."

"Tiramisu?" I was wondering who decided to name the horse after a delicious dessert.

"I know that look on your face," he said, looking rather amused. "My mom named her after _your_ mom stopped by and brought over some tiramisu as a treat for Anna. Or so, that's what they tell me happened."

"Ah, the plot thickens. So you're saying my mom is behind the name."

"I said nothing of the sort. Now, can I help it if you come to any sort of conclusions based on what I did say? No."

"Smart mouth," I mumbled, knowing full and well he could hear me

"College certified," he quipped. "Hey, look, now that I've got you here I was thinking. . ."

"About?" I prompted, putting my hands in my pockets and backtracking back to where he was at the fence. I was trying to appear casual. Yep. Casual and comfortable.

"I'd like to hang out. That is, if you want to. I know I spend a lot of time with horses, but human interaction can be great, too, sometimes."

"I don't know," I told him as I tugged at my hat, a nervous gesture I got from my father. It was one of the reasons I didn't wear hats that often. "I think you'd be slumming it with me. I'm sure Delilah wouldn't like that."

"Are you kidding? Delilah loves you. Sometimes I wonder if she likes you more than she likes me."

I was pretty sure his horse didn't like me more than him, but Delilah really had always been very fond of me. As a person who grew up tending to animals, though, I guess I just had the right vibe about me.

"She's a sweetheart," I commented sincerely.

Akito smiled at me as if I couldn't have said anything better. "So how about it? I have a break coming up," he hedged.

I looked into those golden eyes of his and felt myself being drawn in by the gravity of those twin suns. "Alright."

"Cool. Stay where you are and I'll be back in five minutes."

With that said, he patted the horse he had been tending to on the back and then he led a second horse back into the barn. From there, he disappeared inside the shop for a few minutes. While he was gone, I took that time to fully pull myself back together and regain my equilibrium. When he emerged from the shop, he bounded over to where I was at the fence and swiped his shirt up while he was at it. In one fluid motion, he tugged the shirt over his head and effectively covered himself back up. I wasn't sure whether I was more relieved or disappointed, although I was certainly a mixture of both.

"So. . ." I started.

"Where. . ." he began at the same time.

We both paused then, staring at each other and wondering who was going to go first. Then we both broke out in laughter when we realized neither one of us was going to take the bait.

"Ladies first," he finally told me, ever the gentleman.

"No, you go ahead. And before you object, I will stand here and say nothing, waiting for you to say something. And then if neither of us say anything then where will that get us? I mean, other than right back where we just were?"

He let out a resigned sigh since he knew I meant what I said.

"You always were stubborn." I watched, kind of transfixed, as he ran his fingers through the hair he hadn't decided to pull back into a ponytail. "Alright. I was going to ask you where you wanted to go," Akito relented.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," I admitted, finding it funny how we were on the same page.

I was rewarded with another upturn of his lips. "Go figure. I really do want it to be your choice, though. So is there anywhere you want to go?"

I thought about that. We were in Konohana. There were only a few places Akito liked to hang out in Konohana. He liked Yun's Tea House, which now belonged to Ying, but she decided to keep the name the same. He liked the grove. And he also liked spending time on the bridge, looking down at the water.

"How about the bridge?"

The bridge was actually an old favorite spot of ours. I had many fond memories of us talking and sometimes even fighting on that bridge. He must have been thinking the same thing as me because he looked at me with a mixture of wistfulness and fondness on his face.

"Bridge it is. Lets get going," he said, holding his arm out for me to take.

Akito was the kind of guy who would put his jacket over a rain puddle and let a girl walk on it. Actually, he did that once when my mom bought me white shoes for a school function and there was a big puddle right in front of the door. Georgia fussed at him for a week over that jacket and I felt really guilty about it. Whenever I tried to apologize for all the trouble, though, he wouldn't hear any of it. He'd just give me that lighthearted smile and wave my concerns away.

I took Akito's arm and pulled my hat down some so he couldn't see my face.

' _On second thought, perhaps I should wear hats more often. . ._ '

We walked in a companionable silence together for a minute until he broke it with a whisper.

"Hey, I'm going to tell you something, but you have to promise to keep it a secret."

"Oh? I can keep a secret." He shot me a dubious look right then. "Hey now, have you ever known me to sell anybody out?"

I was the kind of person who could take a secret to the grave if she really wanted to and he knew that. Of course, he had no idea that I'd been keeping a secret for half my life that involved him, but. . .

"Good point. Alright, I'll tell you. Besides, I don't think you'll want to ruin the surprise by saying anything anyway."

"Gee. Thanks for your vote of confidence, Ki."

He stopped walking and extricated his arm from mine before relocating it around my shoulder. He squeezed me to his side in a makeshift hug. "I'm only teasing. You're one of the most trustworthy people I know."

He paused then and I was already feeling the suspense so I prompted him with "Well?"

"Jackson and I are now locked in a battle over who is going to be the best man. . ." Akito trailed off.

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked behind us at where I could see Makoto walking toward Raul's shop, hand in hand with Keiko.

"You mean he's going to pop the question?!" I whispered excitedly. "Makoto is going to ask Keiko to marry him?"

Akito gave me a thumbs up and I could barely contain my excitement. "He's not ready to do it yet, though. You know Makoto. He likes to plan things well in advance so I'm not sure when he's actually going to do it. You have to keep this to yourself until then. In fact, don't even let him know I told you because he swore me to secrecy."

"Now who can't keep secrets?" I joked as I reached the bridge and leaned against the wood separating me from the water below. "Don't worry, though. I wouldn't ruin a surprise as big as that for Keiko. Oh, this is so exciting! Yet, strange at the same time. . ."

"How is it strange?" he asked as he leaned next to me.

"I don't know. It's just. . .we all grew up together and now they're getting married." Sure, Keiko hadn't even said yes yet, but there wasn't a doubt in either of our minds that she would when the time came. "They're the first ones to get married in our little group. We really are full-grown adults now, aren't we?"

"You almost sound. . .sad," he commented as he looked at me intently. "Why, Vi?"

I let out a little sigh and looked down at some lily pads, thinking about how to say what was on my mind since I knew he wasn't about to let this drop considering the way he was staring me down. "I don't know. It's just. . .I know I'm a twenty-four year old woman and all, but some days I don't feel as mature as I'd like to. I feel like I've left home, gone to college, had a great job, I've spent a long time living away from my parents. . .yet I feel like I still have some growing up to do. And if Makoto and Keiko are at a place where they feel they can take such a big step, then what did they do different? How come they've adjusted to adulthood better than me?"

Akito pointed down at the water and I looked, but I saw nothing but the aforementioned lily pads and our reflections. "You see yourself down there? Take a long, hard look at yourself, Violet. I. . .I don't think there's anything wrong with you, personally. I've always liked you just the way you are. And for the record, I think you're plenty mature. If there's something you don't like about yourself, though, then it's up to you to change it."

I started tugging at my hat again then, hoping he couldn't see the hint of red creeping across my cheeks.

"I will say, though, that we never really know what we're ready for until the time for something to happen comes upon us. If there was a guy you were truly in love with and he asked you, I think it's likely you would be ready to take that step, too."

I didn't get much sleep that night. Instead, I stared up into the darkness at where I knew my ceiling was located as I replayed my conversation with Akito over and over again in my head.

' _If there was a guy you were truly in love with and he asked you, I think it's likely you would be ready to take that step, too_.'

"You're right," I whispered as I rolled over onto my right side and tried to erase the memory of what he'd looked like with the sun glinting on his hair as we stood on the bridge. I was lucky my mind was steering clear of the memory of him out in the pasture. "It's very likely I would."


	7. Ice Cream with Akito

**Author's Note:** Somebody came up with the most awesome thing I've heard in a while. Vikito! Which, of course, is a combination of Violet and Akito used to signify their possible pairing. Things are going to start shaking up in the next couple of chapters, and Violet's going to have some big things to deal with. Until then, before things get more complicated, here is another chapter featuring none other than Vikito!

* * *

The hand fishing contest was originally and traditionally a Bluebell festival. And it still was predominately a Bluebell festival. People from Konohana were now permitted to participate, though, just like residents of Bluebell were welcome to join in on the angling contest if they wanted to. Willow and Makoto were actually both difficult to defeat when it came to this particular contest. Willow had always been very in tune with the mountain as the daughter of the Oracle. As for Makoto, he had an innate ability to be quiet enough not to alarm the fish and he had hands so fast that the fish got snatched up before bystanders could even see him move.

Those two were the reason why I did some hardcore training in the days leading up to the contest. My mother eventually told me to stop bringing fish back to the house because we had so many. Even my dad said enough was enough, and he was normally eager to get fresh fish for the cats. I offered some to Cheryl, but she ended up putting her foot down, too, because their pond was close to being overstocked. Therefore, many fish were allowed to swim another day thanks to them. Besides, the better fish were the ones in the deeper water anyway. Continuing to catch the small fry was essentially a waste.

So there I was, my shoes abandoned where it was nice and dry as I stood in the water and concentrated on being fast, quiet, and completely in tune with nature. I was basically trying to be the ultimate combination of Willow and Makoto. I was snatching up fish left and right before letting them go and I was so focused that I wasn't immediately aware when I wasn't alone anymore.

I caught a fish, but it somehow managed to squirm its way out of my grasp and hit the water with a splash. I watched as it swam away as fast as its fins could take it.

"Slippery little guy," I mumbled with a little smile as it disappeared from my view.

"It seems that one got away from you. Can't catch them all, I suppose."

"Aaah!" I exclaimed as I spun around and saw Akito sitting right next to my shoes. My eyes only landed on him for a total of two seconds because I slipped on something in the water and started falling back. I flailed my arms around as if that was going to somehow keep me up and before I knew it, I hit the water.

"Violet! Are you okay?" I heard Akito say before I saw him standing above me. I got a heavy dose of deja vu right then. I was suddenly thirteen all over again as I gazed up at him from where I was, flat on my back. His golden eyes were twinkling with his amusement, auburn hair was framing his face, and I suddenly felt like I was falling in love with him all over again even though I had made myself a promise that day I first saw him again in Georgia's shop that I wouldn't let my old feelings completely resurface. I just broke that promise.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, trying to tell my heart not to feel the things it was insisting on feeling. That heart of mine was such a traitorous thing taking up residence in my chest. Too bad I couldn't evict it. "My pain is more emotional than physical." It was an honest answer that I certainly didn't plan on elaborating so I hoped he didn't do that thing where he insisted upon me telling him something.

"Are you sure? You easily could have hit your head on a rock or something. Maybe I should take you to Hiro or Ayame. . ."

"I'm fine, really," I insisted, trying and failing to bury my feelings again.

"Vi, you're the clumsiest person I know," he told me and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the truth.

"I know, I know," I said with a sigh. "You know my mom used to call me Clara Klutz back in the day." Clara was my middle name and one day when the sleeve of my shirt somehow got caught on a doorknob as I was walking by and pulled me back, my mom called me that for the first time. She thought it was amusing, especially since she was clumsy once upon a time herself She managed to grow out of it, though. Oftentimes, I felt like I still hadn't. . .especially, not when I was around Akito.

"Need help?" he asked, offering me his hand.

I looked from his hand to his eyes and my heart fluttered unevenly. It wasn't full-on boom-clap, but it was enough of a reaction. I had to look away from him. "Thanks, but no. I think I'll stay down here and ponder my clumsiness and think about what I could do to make myself more graceful. You go ahead and go about your day. I'll see you later."

I was focusing on a tree nearby, waiting for him to leave when I suddenly heard a splashing noise and had to look over. "Akito, what are you doing?" I asked as I watched him lower himself down until he was sitting in the water before he laid back right next to me.

"Well, if you won't let me help you up then the only solution I could think of was to join you."

"Ki, you're all wet now," I pointed out, slightly exasperated. He was supposed to be leaving, not doing something even more endearing.

"So are you. Besides, it's summer. It's hot. I needed a little cool down."

"When people want a cool down they sit in front of a fan. Or better yet, they go out for ice cream."

"Are you inviting me out for ice cream?"

"W-What?!" I sputtered. Surely I had water in my ears. Surely I'd heard him wrong. "I said no such thing."

He was quiet for a few seconds before he hit me with "So you don't want ice cream? Violet, you always want ice cream, even in winter."

"I never said I didn't want ice cream. I just. . ."

"Great," he said as he jumped back up onto his feet in one fluid motion and held his hand back out so quickly my mind didn't have time to process it properly. "Lets get ice cream. I have some in my freezer if you don't want to go out wet like that."

We were much closer to Konohana than Bluebell so changing my clothes was out of the question. "Alright," I haltingly agreed as I took his hand and let him help me up.

"Besides, if you come over that will give you a chance to visit Mini Delilah."

The previous day had been Akito's birthday. To mark the occasion, I'd carved a horse figurine out of wood, similar to the big statue Kana had in the corner of the front room of his shop. This one, however, was miniature and fashioned into the exact likeness of Delilah. I even painted it. When I handed her over to Akito, I'd called her 'Mini Delilah.'

"What? Does Mini Delilah miss me already? It's only been a day," I joked as I started walking. Akito matched my pace.

"She's been sitting on the shelf behind the counter of the shop, counting the minutes." About two seconds after saying that, he pulled his shirt over his head while walking and not even stumbling in the slightest.

"Oh, that's not fair," I groaned before I could stop myself, catching sight of the water making a trail from his hair to his back. It had been bad enough seeing him without his shirt before. This time there was water involved. I looked away as he turned to look in my direction.

"What's not fair?" he asked as he draped the shirt over his shoulder.

I coughed and chose my words carefully. "It's not fair that. . .you can take your wet shirt off and I can't. I mean, technically I could, but as Oliver would tell me, that would be indecent."

"Is that so?"

We walked in silence for a couple of minutes before I started "So do you have. . ."

"Vanilla?" he cut in. "Would I have offered you ice cream if I didn't have vanilla?"

"Good point," I said with a laugh. "You're too smart to offer ice cream if it isn't vanilla."

When it came to an ice cream cone or ice cream in a bowl, I preferred plain ole vanilla to anything else. Milkshakes were a whole different story, though.

Soon enough, I was sitting at the table in the back area of his father's shop with a bowl of vanilla ice cream before me. Akito opted for chocolate instead and took the seat across from me. My clothes had dried considerably on the walk to Konohana, but they had still been wet enough for Akito to insist I change into some clothes his sister had left there while my clothes were drying. And while the t shirt and shorts were a little too small, wearing them was better than wearing damp clothes. My hair was piled on top of my head so I wouldn't have to deal with any damp strands touching my neck.

Although Akito was in Bluebell every day, he was technically staying at the Konohana shop since he wanted his own space. And since his father was more busy than usual with keeping Georgia's spirits up, it was good to have somebody constantly keeping their eye on the Konohana shop. I sat at the kitchen table with Akito for the longest time, having our long overdue talk we needed to catch up.

"So there I was, sitting at the restaurant. The waitress had just walked away with our orders when I somehow managed to knock my glass of soda over. And I'm telling you, it was like the entire ordeal went in slow motion. I saw the glass slowly flying off the table. I reached toward it while calling out 'Noooooo!' It hit the floor then bounced back up, all of the soda and ice splashing everywhere."

Akito did this thing where he half laughed and half groaned. "What about the guy?"

"Sam? Well, he didn't laugh or anything, but it was beyond embarrassing to have something like that happen on a date. We went on another date after that, one with no slow motion flying glasses, but that was it."

"Wow, Vi. Why'd you waste your time with that guy if he couldn't see the charm in your clumsiness?" he asked in such a way that I was very close to considering that he might be serious about his question.

"Just a glutton for punishment, I guess. Did I ever tell you how my. . .let me think. . .my great. . .great grandparents met?"

"No. This sounds like an interesting story already," he told me, stirring up his second helping of ice cream in the bowl. He liked to stir his ice cream until it was a little soupy and then he ate it.

"I like to think so. Grandma Raye had just moved to this place called Flower Bud Village. She left the city and wanted to start over as a farmer."

"This sounds familiar," he mentioned before promptly attacking his ice cream with gusto.

I paused to think about that and realized he was right. My mother had left the city once upon a time to start over as a farmer. And then I moved back from the city to be a farmer. "Perhaps this kind of thing runs in the family. . .Anyway, she chose to live right in the middle of town and that put her house across the road from the clinic, where a handsome doctor by the name of Alex happened to live."

"Great-great Grandpa?"

"Great-great Grandpa," I confirmed. "The land was unkempt so there were a lot of weeds growing all over the place. As she was contemplating all the work she'd have to do to fix it all up, she tripped over a weed."

"Let me guess. He caught her?" Akito asked, pushing his empty bowl aside and leaning forward.

"Oh no. She fell. She banged up her knee, too. I guess she was lucky that the doctor from across the road rushed over to help. He picked her up, carried her into the clinic, and patched her right up." I let out a wistful sigh then. I loved their story. They had a love worth aspiring to, just like my parents did.

"That was actually a beautiful story," Akito said softly. I looked up at him and saw him looking thoughtfully at the wall behind me. He had an unsettling look on his face, though, and it made me want to snap him out of whatever he was thinking about.

"So how about you?" I asked reluctantly, about 99.9 percent sure I didn't want to know the answer. "Have you had anybody special in _your_ life lately?"

I was pretty sure I just made it worse because he looked kind of stricken right then. "Uh. . ."

"Whoa, whoa. I-I didn't mean to pry. If you don't want to tell me then that's alright. We should talk about something else instead." He was still looking like I'd slapped him across the face. "Then again, I think I'll just grab my clothes and go. I'm sorry if I said something that upset you."

As I stood up to give him his space, he grabbed my arm. "No, wait. It's. . .okay. Stay Vi. Please?"

I tugged down the shirt that had risen up when I'd jumped up from the table. I pulled at the shorts for good measure, too. Annabelle was truly a petite girl and that made my current outfit feel really awkward. I slowly sat back down and gave him a curious look. "You don't have to answer the question, okay?" I knew I shouldn't even have asked it in the first place. "Who do you think is going to win the hand fishing contest this year? Willow or Makoto?"

"Courtney." When I stared at him kind of blankly he continued. "Courtney was in my life recently."

"Courtney," I said, suddenly feeling jealous of a woman whose face I had never seen. I stomped those feelings down into the pit of my soul. "Okay."

He took a deep breath and started back talking when it became apparent that I wasn't going to press him for answers. "I dated Courtney for a year."

"How did you two meet?" I asked as casually as I could, deciding to ask questions after all since he seemed to want to talk about this.

"Work. I got a job at her father's company. She happened to be in his office when I came in the first day and we hit it off. Things were good for a while. It's just. . .I don't know. We wanted different things and that drove a wedge between us."

I put the last spoonful of ice cream in my mouth and then pushed my bowl over by his bowl. While part of me wanted to dig for more answers, another more dominant part of me felt like he'd revealed enough for one day and needed something else to think about.

"So. . .are you going back to the city you were living in?" I asked, realizing that I really wanted an answer to that question.

"Yes. No? Honestly, Violet, I'm not sure. I came back home to support my mom in her time of grief. I planned to go back, but now I'm don't know."

"Being back home feels that good, huh?"

"It really does."

"Ki, didn't you always plan on coming back, though? I mean, didn't you go to college for business so you could apply that knowledge to your family's shops?" I asked, pointing out his original intentions.

Akito put his elbow on the table and rested his cheek on the palm of his left hand. "You're right. I can't dispute that. That's what I planned, but I got offered this great job when I graduated and I took it and before I knew it, I got caught up in that life. And it's not a bad life. It's just. . .right now, I'm not sure what I should do. If I'm being perfectly honest, I want to stay home for good. But do I really want to give up all that I've built back in the city?"

I didn't say anything to that. Instead, I just smiled at him until he connected the dots in his head. "Who do I think I'm talking to, huh? You know all about what I'm talking about, don't you? What do you think, Vi?"

I considered all that he'd said very carefully before I dared to open my mouth. He was asking for my input and I didn't want to say the wrong thing. "You're right. I know all about this. But that was my own personal situation. I did what I felt was right for me. I left my job and do you know how difficult it is to get a decent job in the art world, especially fresh out of college? I left my friends, tons of opportunities. . .to work on a farm. My friend Marissa thought I was crazy. It made perfect sense to me, though. You think about what feels right to you. Think about what you think makes more sense to you personally. You and not anybody else. Then decide."

He let out a little sigh and then smiled brightly. "I always could count on you to be a voice of reason. Like that time I was thinking about shaving my hair. . ."

"That was insane!" I gushed then, remembering that with sudden absolute clarity. I reached across the table and grabbed onto the ponytail trailing over his shoulder. "Don't you _ever_ cut it. Well, you can cut it. To your ears, maybe, at most. Just don't shave it off completely. On second thought, no, don't cut it."

He reached across the table and tugged on a lock of hair that had escaped my ponytail holder before idly twisting it around his finger. "Considering you've never had your hair shorter than the middle of your back your entire life, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say you're a bit biased."

"Perhaps."

We sat there for a little bit with my fingers in his ponytail and his finger toying with that lock of my hair, looking at each other with the strangest expression on our faces. When I realized my heart was doing that boom-clap thing, I let go of his hair and slowly leaned back, giving him time to separate himself from my hair as well before I put myself firmly back on my side of the table.

"I, uh. . ." I cleared my throat before finishing. "I'll wash the bowls and spoons, okay? I mean, it's the least I can do since you got yourself wet for me and then gave me ice cream. Then I'm going to head out to get some things done because I have these things I have to get accomplished today. You know, requests and stuff and I'd better get on it so. . ."

"Oh, um, yeah. Okay. I'm going to check on all the animals because that's kind of my job right now. My dad trusts me with it and I don't want to let him down, so. . ."

We both jumped up at the same time and scattered in different directions. I made quick work of washing those few dishes and then I recovered my clothes, which were now dry. I'm not sure I had ever gotten dressed so quickly in my entire life. Apparently Akito had finished with checking up on the animals inside the shop so I figured he'd be out in the pasture now. I left the shop and looked toward the pasture, but he wasn't there. I walked along the fence until I could get a good vantage point to see inside the barn. I could see him in there giving one of their horses a treat.

Knowing Akito, if he were to see me now he would insist on walking me home, right up to the front door. I suddenly felt like I needed some distance from him, though, so I hurried away before he could turn around and notice me there. I didn't stop until I shut the door of my bedroom behind me.

I immediately locked the door for good measure and sat down in a chair. I'd so carefully kept my feelings for him locked in the deepest recesses of my heart during the five years I'd spent away from Akito. On the mountain, they had somehow been unleashed. As I sat alone in my quiet bedroom, those feelings were flooding all around me.


	8. The Hand Fishing Contest Surprise

The day of the hand fishing contest arrived and I hadn't seen Akito since the other day. It's not that I went out of my way to avoid him or anything. Our paths just happened to not cross. I certainly didn't plan on avoiding him like the plague again like I had for most of spring before he'd confronted me about that.

I was sitting in front of my dresser brushing my hair when there was a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called as I sat the brush down and devoted myself to finding something to pull my hair back with. I could have been satisfied with a rubber band, a scrunchie, anything, but they were all gone.

Colby strolled into the room then and I saw Alan walking by my door. He stopped in his tracks, doubled back, and winked at me before Colby got around to finally shutting the door. I frowned at that, shook my head, and renewed my search. The aforementioned Colby threw herself across my bed, on her back, and proceeded to stare up at the ceiling.

"You know, if I were a less positive person, I would be wondering why any of us bother participating in this contest. The only person in these two towns who can beat Makoto and Willow is your mom and she hasn't participated in years. Yet I believe one of these days, their reign over this contest will come to an end at the hands of somebody else. A hero will emerge in our most dire time of need. And have you heard anything I've said since I've been in here?"

"Hmm?" I said, finally coming across something to use at the back of a drawer of all places. "Oh yeah. Um. . .A hero. Dire time of need. Wait, what?" I said, having only heard the end of her speech and finding myself confused by that little snippet.

"I knew it," she said with a sigh as she sat up. "You're thinking about the other day with Akito, aren't you?" The other day when I came back to my bedroom after leaving Akito's, it turned out I hadn't been as alone as I'd originally thought. Not long after I'd locked the door and sat down in my chair, I'd noticed Colby was standing in front of my bulletin board. She'd inadvertently ambushed me and as such, she had been privy to the details of my outing.

"Maybe," I said in as noncommittal of a way as I could muster.

Colby stared at me as I parted some bangs and pulled the rest of my hair up into a high ponytail. "I think you should tell him. Before it's too late."

My brush fell out my hand and onto my lap. I picked it back up and finished brushing my bangs. "T-Tell him what?" I asked before I sat it back on my dresser and stood up to find some shoes to wear. Marissa was a shoe fanatic and would always drag me off shopping for shoes. Unfortunately, some of the shoes she'd talked me into buying weren't appropriate for my life after leaving the city. Luckily, I'd let her make fun of me various times as I bought shoes that were more functional.

"Mmm-hmm," was all Colby would say to that before she stood up and headed toward the door. "I'm going to go check on my aunt before the contest."

"What? You just got here," I said as I sat in the spot she'd just vacated and pulled my first shoe on.

"You think about what I said, okay? I'll see you up on the mountain."

She gave me a wave of her fingers and just like that, she was gone. I almost wondered if I'd imagined her in my room, if she'd ever actually been there at all. I saw that her hat had fallen off her head and was right beside my pillow. There it was, definite proof I wasn't going crazy.

"Knock, knock," my mom said as she knocked on the door and stuck her head in. "We're heading out now. Don't forget to tell Mikhail you're participating."

"I'm pretty sure he already knows. But," I cut her off before she could admonish me. "I'll be sure to tell him just in case."

"Good luck," my mom said before hurrying off. I saw her walk back through with my father a minute later. Oliver and Alan were hot on their heels, although Alan did pause and give me a thumb's up before catching up with everybody else. I let out a little groan. I was still debating whether or not I should tell Akito about how much his brother was starting to creep me out with his crush, especially since it made the times he stayed the night over at my house with Oliver truly awkward. It was either that, or I would have to have a serious talk with Alan in which I made him understand with absolute clarity that I was not interested.

When I was all ready to go, I said a quick goodbye to the animals crowding around my legs and headed into town. My watch told me that it was getting close to noon, so I picked up the pace since I didn't want to be too late to have my talk with my uncle. I ended up in front of Town Hall at twelve o'clock on the dot. The mayor was just stepping out of Town Hall with his family close behind. Jackson's ten year old sister was the first to notice me.

"We have a straggler," Lauren said as she pointed me out, looking like a young female version of her brother.

They all turned to look at me in unison and I had to raise my eyebrow at that. I wasn't sure if I should be amused by this strange synchronicity or slightly freaked out.

"Ah, Violet. I was wondering if you would make it. I assumed you would be participating in today's contest, but. . ."

"I am," I assured him quickly.

"Good luck today," Laney said as she came forward and kissed my cheek in greeting.

"Are you going to walk to the mountain with us?" Jackson asked with a hopeful tone that warmed my heart.

"Why not," I said, kissing his cheek and falling into step beside him.

Jackson slipped his arms over my shoulders as he said "Lets try to have a great time today, okay?"

I looked up at him with a tentative raising of my eyebrow. "Are you participating?"

"Yeahhhhh. . .no."

"Oh come on, Jack. Everybody's participating but you. I am. Colby is. So are Makoto and Keiko. Willow. Akito. . ."

"You don't have to go down the list. I know who's taking part, Violet," he said with a laugh.

"You should join in, Jackson. You've always been good with your hands. Maybe you'll be the one to take Makoto and Keiko down." He snorted at that and tried to hide his smile. "What? What did I say that's so funny?"

Jackson ran his free hand through his hair, pushing his bangs back, and then looked back down at me. "It's just that I was thinking about something Akito said to me about half an hour ago."

My heart skipped a beat at hearing Akito's name. I took a deep breath before I asked "What did he say?"

"He said you're the one to watch this year. And when the man's right, he's right. I have to say I agree."

We all assembled at the top of the mountain where I joined my own family. Alan had rejoined his, too, much to my relief. Mikhail stood before us with Rahi looming close enough to show his support, but far enough away to signify that he wasn't the one with the authority in this festival.

"Good afternoon, everybody. It's time for the hand fishing contest again. You all know the rules. The person who catches the most fish within the one hour time frame wins. As a prize, the winner will get honey wine as well as a free meal at the cafe."

"That's new. A free meal? They must have started that after we left town."

I whirled around and there was Akito, looking down at me with that easy-going grin on his face that made me feel a little light-headed, but in a good way. _'I think you should tell him.'_ Colby's words from earlier rudely intruded in my mind and I shooed them away.

"They actually added it the year before last. It was Laney's idea," my dad supplied, looking at Akito over his shoulder.

"Good afternoon, sir," Akito said respectfully, inclining his head toward my father.

"Good afternoon," my father mumbled, giving Akito a brief nod of his head before returning his attention to Mikhail. He then looked back at us quickly again, first at Akito, then me, before lingering on Akito for a moment longer with slightly narrowed eyes. He then promptly looked forward again and I got the distinct feeling he'd just been assessing something, although I had no idea what.

I elbowed Akito hard enough to get his attention and asked "So what brings you over to my neck of the woods?"

"I came to wish you good luck, of course."

Wishing his competition good luck. . .It was such an Akito thing for him to do. Before I could respond to that, I caught onto what Mikhail was saying again although admittedly, I hadn't been paying attention to the majority of my uncle's speech.

"With that said, it's time for the competitors to take their places. Choose an area by the water and wait for the signal. Let the contest begin."

Those of us who were competing hurried to get into position before the countdown started. I chose the same spot I'd been practicing it before. I looked up and noticed that Akito actually wasn't that far away so I called out to him.

"Hey, Akito!" I called. He looked up with a questioning expression, but didn't say anything. "Good luck to you, too."

"Three!" I heard from somewhere up and to the left of me."

"Thanks," Akito replied.

"Two!"

Jackson was too far away to hear me, but when we made eye contact, I gave him a thumbs up. Colby wasn't in the immediate area, which meant she must have been grouped with Makoto and Willow, unless her and Keiko had decided to find a separate area to compete.

"One!"

Just like that, we all started reaching down into the water and snatching up fish. I tried to focus, relax, and get into the zone. When I was a child, I remember my mother bringing me with her when she hand fished one time. I sat in my father's special spot, the place he liked to hang out sometimes on his days off, and watched her. She'd made it look so easy. Then again, my mother tended to make everything look easy. I'm not sure why I remember that day. It was an ordinary day with nothing particularly special about it. And yet I do remember sitting there just watching her, wondering if someday I would be as good at it as she was

"Time!" I stood back up straight and shook my head a little confusedly. Had an hour really passed by that quickly? I looked at my basket and sure enough, it was full of an hour's worth of fish. "Please return to the top of the mountain with your baskets and we'll determine the winner."

I cringed at the screechy feedback I heard from the megaphone that came as he switched it off. Rubbing at my ear to alleviate that irritation, I made my way over to where I'd left my shoes and proceeded to pull them on. I reached over for my basket and saw a larger hand swipe it out of my reach. When I looked up I saw Akito with my basket in one hand and his in the other.

"Can I carry this for you?" he asked, although it was a little late considering he already had it.

"I can carry that myself," I pointed out as I stuck my hands in my back pockets and raised an eyebrow.

"I know," he responded simply while looking at me expectantly.

"Alright. Thanks," I relented since I could tell he was determined to carry that basket for some unknown reason.

Falling into step beside him, I saw Jackson further on up, heading toward the mountain summit. He kept stealing glances back in our direction with a little frown that seemed strange to me. He was certainly welcome to join us, as far as I was concerned. And yet he picked up his pace and put more distance between him and us. I stole my own glance over at Akito. There he was with my bucket in one hand and his own in the other looking as if he were carrying two pieces of paper

"What? Do I have something on me?" he asked when he caught me looking.

With a shake of my head I said "Nope. I was just thinking about how you look so strong that you put Hercules to shame."

He did this half snort, half laugh thing I hadn't heard in a long time before it shifted into a full-on laugh. "Hercules, huh? Now, was that sarcasm or were you actually thinking that about me?"

In actuality, it was the honest truth cloaked under a veil of sarcasm. I wasn't about to tell him that, though. "I guess you'll never know. It'll just be one of those big mysteries that never get solved like. . .are aliens real? Do they live among us? I don't know. It's a mystery just like this is." I shrugged for effect.

Akito shook his head and looked at me sideways as he said "You know, Violet, if I didn't know any better I'd say you've been checking me out."

That comment was so unexpected that I tripped over a rather large rock and very nearly fell. I managed to steady myself by grabbing into Akito's arm, though, which I let go of as quickly as possible. My heart was going boom-clap at top speed and I had to look in the opposite direction of Akito as I wished for a hat and struggled to keep a blush off my face.

"Are you okay, Vi?" he asked, and I wasn't sure if I was hearing concern, amusement, or both in his voice.

"You distracted me with all your talking and I didn't see that rock in my way." That was true . .enough. That was as much truth as he needed to know.

Apparently since his talking distracted me so much, he decided to take the opposite approach, which was to stop talking altogether. Admittedly, a part of me was relieved about that if he was going to be spouting such painfully accurate things that I didn't want to tell him he was right about.

When we made it to the top of the mountain again, he handed me my bucket back.

"Try not to trip with that, now," he instructed. "I'd hate to see you face plant straight into some fish. Of course I'd be sure to pull you out, but it'd be pretty embarrassing for you in front of all these people."

"Ha ha. Very funny," I said as I smacked him on the arm and with my free hand. "Thanks for carrying my bucket, though."

"Thanks for _letting_ me carry it," he said with a wave as he walked over to join his family and wait for Mikhail to make some order of the current chaos.

Only Akito would insist on carrying something for somebody and then _thank_ them for letting him carry it. I really wasn't sure why he was thanking me, though. As much as I understood him, I was also puzzled by him at the same time. It made me happy that I didn't have him figured out. That gave me something to look forward to.

"Lets see," my mother said as I made my way over to my own family. She peered inside my bucket and clapped her hands. "That's a lot! You've done so well, sweetie!"

I didn't get a chance to respond to that because I heard our esteemed mayor calling out loud enough to be heard over the talking. At least he hadn't switched the megaphone back on.

"Okay everybody. I need all of the participants to bring their fish here for the counting. The results will come shortly. Please be patient while the winner is determined."

I hurried forward to present my bucket and then found myself face to face with none other than Colby.

"And where have you been?" I asked as she looped her arm through mine.

"Head to head with Willow and Makoto. Words cannot express the toll it took on my concentration, watching those two face off against each other."

"Is that your way of delicately telling me that you don't think you won?"

She scoffed at that before she gave me a smile. "Please. I _know_ I didn't win. But that's okay. These things are meant to be fun. Having bad feelings about losing makes something not be fun and at that point, why even bother participating in the first place?"

We chatted amongst ourselves for a few minutes before Mikhail spoke up again. "Alright everybody. The results are in. The winner of this year's hand fishing contest is none other than. . ." He paused then and we all waited as he dragged the moment out before he said "Violet!"

I stood there kind of dumbfounded for a moment before I pointed at myself. "Me?"

Colby laughed and said "Yes, you, you goof. Go on up there and claim your prize!"

Everybody was clapping and cheering and as I made my way toward Mikhail, I glanced over at Akito.

' _I think you should tell him the truth_ ,' Colby's words from earlier echoed in my head again as I saw him give me two thumbs up. He suddenly raised an eyebrow, though, and looked to his left as if he'd heard something. Curious, I followed his gaze. My eyes had to move fast, though, because there was a woman running toward Akito. She launched herself into his arms and I could hear him say "Courtney?!"

I didn't hear a word Mikhail was saying as he handed me my hard-earned prizes. Colby's voice was in my head again, finally finishing up with ' _Before it's too late_.'


	9. Flowers and Secret Love

**Author's Note:** I had a lot of research to do about flowers and their meanings for this chapter and I must say I have even more respect now for Cam and his job. You're the man, Cam! Here, have some tom yum goong on me. Phew! Here's the chapter. I have another little surprise for you as we move forward with the story and this time, the name of the surprise isn't Courtney. It's name is. . .

* * *

She was a real metropolitan type of woman. I'd seen enough of them during my time in the city to be able to figure that out. Her hair was long, chestnut brown, super glossy, and looked like it belonged in a shampoo ad. Her eyebrows were perfectly arched, as if she spent a great deal of time on maintenance to get them to look just right as they sat above her light gray eyes. The eyelashes above those eyes were so voluminous that I was certain she didn't come by them naturally. And while the dress she was wearing seemed sensible enough, the very high heels she was wearing certainly were not. I could certainly dress up when I wanted to, especially since I'd done just that more often than not while I lived in the city, but I was a casual small-town girl at heart and my style tended to reflect that on a daily basis now that I was back home.

"She's nothing like me. She's like. . .the exact opposite of me," I said as sat at a secluded area of the mountain with Willow by my side.

This had been a favorite spot of ours since way back in the day. It was far off the main road and hidden by bushes so we were confident about our current privacy. Keiko was helping Makoto in his father's orchard for the day and Colby was visiting the town closest to Bluebell and Konohana. It was a place called Buena Vista. It was a colorful little town built right next to a lake so huge that it gave a real seaside feel to the place. A long time ago, the town cut off ties with both Bluebell and Konohana when they heard about the big feud. They didn't want to be drawn into the drama. Now that the two towns were friendly and peaceful at last, the relationship with Buena Vista had started back up as well. Diego, Raul, and Enrique loved to go there whenever they could and the school there was where the children of Konohana and Bluebell started attending when I was a kid.

"I thought he told you that the two of them were through?"

With a woeful sigh, I decided to lay on my back and look up at the big fluffy clouds that were in the sky today. "That's what he said, but apparently she didn't get the memo."

"Well, phooey." Willow joined me as I looked up at the clouds, our hair kind of mixing together as we just stared. "She's pretty."

"Yeah."

"I don't think she's as pretty as _you_. She's more polished, perhaps, with all these bells and whistles. If you wiped all that makeup off her face, though, I wonder if she'd look like a completely different person. Maybe like a troll who is supposed to live under a bridge. And that's just false advertising, you know. She should get sued for that."

I burst out into laughter at that and I had to wipe a few tears away from the corners of my eyes. "I love you, Will," I declared as I squeezed her hand.

"I know. I love you, too."

We were quiet for a few minutes when she hit me with "Do you think a woman like her will catch Zhen's eye?!" She literally hit me. She smacked me on the arm as the words came out her mouth.

"Wait, what? No, Willow. I'm pretty sure Zhen prefers to look elsewhere."

She seemed to visibly relax at my words and got back into staring back up at the clouds. Willow was petite and delicate looking, but she was not to be underestimated if she felt threatened. Anybody who tried to set their sights on Zhen would find that out the hard way, I was sure.

I watched a bird fly up above and it almost seemed to be soaring toward a cloud, almost as if it made its home there. I knew that was impossible, but for some reason it struck me as a positively lovely notion.

"Do you ever think that big, fluffy clouds like these kind of look like castles in the sky?"

"What?"

"Castles. Big pristine, untouchable palaces where sky royalty lives." As I stared at them, I could make out the shapes I needed.

Willow shook her head and smiled. "You're an artist, Violet. You see the world differently than most people."

"You know," I said as I looked at her out the corner of my eyes. "Zhen is an artist, too, of sorts. I guess that means he sees the world differently, too."

"I guess so," she said with a little smile that suddenly made me envious. Keiko had Makoto. Willow was determined that she was going to have Zhen. Colby was off visiting Buena Vista because her boyfriend, a guy named Ignacio, lived there. All of my female friends were paired off and I was the odd duck out. I'd never really felt compelled to have a guy in my life. Yes, I'd certainly had boyfriends, but I'd never felt out of place without one before.

A couple of days later, it was time for one of the days my father looked forward to all year. It was Flower Day. It was also a special day because my mother insisted that it was during this day, way back before I was even born, that the relationship between her and my father really got its start.

"He was so cold and frustrating before that," she said as we cleaned in the barn that morning. "I mean, he would look straight at me and then proceed to ignore my very existence! And when he had no choice other than to acknowledge me, he would give me this cold stare. Oh, he made me _so mad_ , Violet. I often wondered how somebody could be so handsome yet so off-putting at the same time."

I laughed because I found it hard to imagine a time when my parents weren't the lovey dovey couple they'd been my entire life, no matter how many times I heard about it. Since I'd heard this exact story so many times, I knew what to say to lead my mother to the next part of it. "So you finally had your fill of that behavior, did you?"

"Oh yes," she told me as she finished with her rake and leaned it against a wall. She put both hands on her hips and for a second there I wondered if she was going to stomp her foot, too, for effect. That was something Willow probably would've done, now that I thought about it. "I couldn't take it anymore so after I bought my flowers that day, I went right back and confronted him. We had our first real conversation that day, you know? And he even gave me a flower at the end of it. To this day, I still keep it pressed between the pages of a book."

I finished up what I was doing and saw her standing there with a nostalgic look on her face as she thought back. "That took guts, mom."

"There is a lesson to be learned from this story, you know," she spoke as she snapped out of her thoughts and headed toward the doors.

"What's that?" I asked as I followed her out into the sunlight.

"Sometimes people don't know that you're feeling a certain way or that you're agonizing over something. Your father, for example, had no idea how his behavior was making me feel until I told him. Sometimes, you have to bite the bullet and let a person know what's going on in your heart and mind. If you don't, then there's a chance that they are never going to figure it out on their own. If I hadn't told your father, then there's a good chance that we would've stayed in that same pattern and never would have found our way to each other. Then you and Oliver wouldn't be here. And that, I'm certain, would be a tragedy. That's why I think it's good to be honest with people and get things off your chest."

I applied what she'd said to my own situation and realized that Colby had said pretty much the same thing, only with significantly fewer words. I should have told Akito how I felt. Now, with Courtney's sudden appearance, it was painfully obvious to me that I had missed my window of opportunity. I was, as the saying goes, a day late and a dollar short. The currency around these parts was different, but the saying still applied to my situation.

My mother sent me on my way then, saying that she could finish the rest of the work on her own. I was due at my dad's shop so I could help him get ready for the influx of customers that we'd already spent days preparing for. It was a weekday so Oliver had school. He'd tried to convince our mom to let him miss the day to help, but she wouldn't budge. She reminded him that Konohana's Flower Day fell on the weekend this year so Oliver could help then since the residents of Konohana came through the tunnel to buy flowers from the shop.

Kana was out in the pasture of Georgia's shop when I was coming through and he spotted me on my way through.

"Lillian Jr.," he teased. It was something he'd called me from an early age. "Save all the best flowers for me, 'kay?"

"Will do," I told him as I leaned against the fence. "Listen, I know it was Grady's birthday the other day. How is Georgia holding up?"

Kana stood there looking to the side with his fingers on his chin as he considered his answer. "She's hanging in there."

We exchanged a few more words before I started back toward the flower shop. I felt like I should do something for Georgia. My mom told me that she loved fried rice. I made a plan to cook some and take it to her some day soon.

The shop was conspicuously devoid of one Cam Drayton when I arrived so I figured there was only one place he could be. I entered the cafe and there was no sign of Laney. I did hear movement upstairs so I figured that was where Howard was. The door to the storage room my father had been using since long before I even came into the picture was cracked open. I pushed it open the rest of the way and stepped inside. There stood my father with a pair of reading glasses perched on the end of his nose, staring down at a clipboard. When I cleared my throat, his eyes rose and zeroed in on my location.

"Here I am. Violet Drayton, reporting for duty sir," I declared as I gave him a little salute. It earned me a thoughtful frown before the smallest hint of a smile gave him away.

"Just in time. I was just about to take these last few flowers out there and finish setting up." I wasn't surprised that he was already so close to being done. He'd gone in early today and had been working the entire time.

"Do you want me to carry them?"

He came over and gripped my upper arm. "Hmm. . .I feel a few muscles. You should be strong enough, I think. Go ahead."

"They're flowers, dad," I laughed as I picked them up and headed for the door. I stopped in the doorway and saw him checking something off his list before putting the cap on his pen and following after me. "If I can't lift flowers then that would just be sad."

"It would, wouldn't it." It was a statement, not a question.

Wow, my father must have been in a fantastic mood if he was joking so much. The man had always insisted that he couldn't tell a joke, but those words were never to be believed because he certainly had just made one. Behold the power of Flower Day! I could say that he was looking forward to the financial gain he was about to experience, but I knew my dad better than that. His happiness came from getting to see the joy his flowers brought everybody in town during the course of a single day. He just genuinely loved his job, and especially on Flower Day.

He caught me staring at him and I saw his eyebrows furrow as he rubbed the back of his head . He took off his reading glasses and tucked them into the inside pocket of his vest. "What?"

"Nothing," I said. "I just like watching you work, is all."

"You sound like your mother."

"If she's said that to you, I'm pretty sure she means it in a different way than I do," I teased, throwing in a little wink for good measure.

I managed to illicit a scowl and a blush at the same time before he turned his back on me altogether. I noticed he was tugging at his hat. "More work and less talk from you." I knew my father well enough to know that the scowl had shifted to a smile, even if he still had his back turned to me.

The shop was bursting with flowers, even more than usual. I'd noticed that on my way into the cafe, but it was even more impressive when I came back out and took a better look. People gave out a lot of flowers to each other on Flower Day and more bouquets than usual as well. It was simple economics. Supply and demand. Akito had explained the concept to me. It was something he'd learned during a Macroeconomics class he took and there I was thinking about Akito again! I shook my head to dispel him from my thoughts and saw my father looking at me curiously, but he made no comments. He searched around for a minute for something he apparently hadn't brought out, so he took off walking toward the cafe to retrieve whatever it was.

"Excuse me, ma'am," I heard somebody say. I looked up and there were the bright green eyes of Jackson. While my father's could be described as emerald, his were more of a peridot green.

I decided to play along and be the dutiful shopkeeper. "Yes, sir? Happy Flower Day. Can I help you? Here at Cam's Flowers, we strive to meet all of your flowery needs."

He chuckled at that and I felt warm inside. "Well yes, yes you can. I realize I am burdening you since you still have about ten minutes before you open, but. . ."

"Well, I can make an exception. I'll have to charge you extra, but I'm sure you can afford it."

He broke character as he said "Struggling musician here, Vi."

"Well aren't artists _traditionally_ supposed to be struggling as well? But I'm still going to buy flowers."

"Touche." He acquiesced with a nod of his head before he got back into character. "Anyway, I'm going to need a bouquet. Oh, and I'll need about eight more flowers."

"Sure thing. What kind of flowers will you be needing?"

He stroked his chin and said "You look like a woman who knows her way around flowers. I'll let you decide."

"Oooh. Flattery will get you everywhere, mister," I said as I turned around and started looking through the other flowers since the ones on the table didn't appeal to me in this case.

"Really? I wish I'd known that years ago," he mumbled so low that I could barely hear him.

"Hmm?" I asked as I started working.

"Oh, nothing."

I took the meaning of each flower into careful consideration as I selected them on Jackson's behalf. When I turned back around I had a white bouquet of calla lilies ready for him, which I guessed must have been for his mom. I chose white freesias for the extra flowers he'd requested. I even threw in a yellow rose with the freesias that he'd notice later and realize was from me.

"This looks great Vi, thanks. You are the master at this."

"Don't let my father hear you say that," I laughed, suddenly wondering what was taking him so long in the cafe.

"Keep the change," Jackson said as he sat some money on the table and started walking away. He stopped for a second, though, and looked back at me before saying "You know, you need it since you're a struggling artist and all."

With that said, he hurried off and left me shaking my head with an amused smile. Musician and artist or not, neither one of us were actually struggling and we both knew that.

My father finally came back and brought the red roses with him. Every year, he made my mother a special bouquet of red roses and sunflowers. Sunflowers were her favorite flowers and red roses had a special meaning for the two of them so she loved that. In case you're wondering what the special meaning was, my dad gave her a red rose back when he finally confessed his feelings for her. As for what he liked to give me, he always grew a special batch of violets and managed to keep them alive for Flower Day even though they weren't in season then. He always gave me violets because he thought it was clever how he'd named me 'Violet' for my eyes, but also managed to name me after a flower, too.

Within a few minutes of my father's return, a line had formed and we were kept busy. I'd been so preoccupied that I hadn't noticed the person steadily making his way to the front of the line until he was upon me.

"Hey."

My head shot up and there were Akito's golden eyes making me feel extremely caught off guard. "Hey."

"Good morning," he directed toward my father.

"Good morning," he replied before he looked off to the right with a frown. I followed his eyes and saw Oliver in the town square on his way toward the shop. My father let out a conflicted sigh and closed his eyes, touching his fingers to his hat out of frustration before heading toward my brother. I was pretty sure Oliver was about to be on his way back to school because my father sure wasn't going to risk my mother's wrath on Flower Day.

I directed my attention back to our customer and wished for a second that Oliver could be the one working the shop at that moment instead of me. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like where this conversation was going to end up, especially since Akito looked a little uneasy. "I, um. . .I thought you were living in Konohana so. . ."

"Well I am, but I'll always be a Bluebell guy at heart. So I thought why not participate in both days."

"Your mom will like that," I pointed out the obvious.

"Yeah, so will. . ." he trailed off awkwardly and cleared his throat.

"Courtney?" I asked, pulling myself together and acting calm and collected like I wasn't even the least bit impacted by her existence. "What kind of flowers will you be getting for her?" I did my best not to sound like I'd had the wind knocked out of my sails

He seemed a little nervous for some reason and looked at my father momentarily as if he'd rather be making his flower requests to him. "I want to get her a red bouquet made of roses."

I felt like somebody had hit me with a bulldozer. Somehow, I managed to school my features and didn't let him see how I felt about that. I had no clue how I was able to pull that air of nonchalance off. Perhaps I dug deep and tapped into some mysterious pool of inner strength. "Nice. What else will you be needing?"

"I think. . .I'll need another bouquet made of white carnations. My mom loves those. I also want five more of those carnations and. . .a daisy."

"A daisy?" I repeated. Daisies happened to be my favorite when it came to flowers. Daisies didn't shout at you to notice them, but they had a certain simple beauty about them that I appreciated.

"That's right," he told me with a grin.

It didn't take me long to have everything done and I added up the total for him. I threw in a blue salvia, free of charge, that was from me. I didn't like how blue salvias looked clustered together, but individually I thought they were pretty. The meaning of the flower was also something I took into consideration when I selected it to give to him. It said 'I think of you,' something that I did often when it came to Akito. There were other flowers I could have selected, other things I could have said secretly through the language of flowers. There were some things, though, that I just couldn't say to Akito even through flowers. There were some things I couldn't admit to him in any language.

"Wow, Vi. These look great," he told me with a broad smile as he slipped the money into my hand and took the flowers. "You've obviously not lost your touch."

"I'm glad you think so," I replied as I watched him handle the flowers carefully so he didn't mess any of them up. "Good luck. I hope those bouquets go over well."

"Hey, uh. . .Here you go," he said as he handed the daisy back to me. "This one is for you."

"Thanks," I told him happily, smiling with warmth because he still knew what my favorite flower was. Then I ruined the moment by thinking about those red roses he was going to give to Courtney. I didn't let that show, though, since I was still doing an admirable job of holding myself together. I added the daisy to the pile of flowers I'd received throughout the day. My plan was to make them into one big bouquet later on and putting them in the vase in my room.

With another smile, Akito took his flowers and headed out. Nobody else had been in line behind him so I suddenly found myself not busy. My father was still preoccupied with Oliver so I sat on the stool behind the table that my father never used and tried not to completely lose my composure. "Red roses. . ." I said quietly as I thought about Courtney's bouquet. "They mean 'love.'"

Was that how he felt about her? Did he really _love_ her? Then again, there was a chance that he didn't know of the exact significance of red roses. As far as I knew, Akito had never really taken an interest in knowing the meanings of flowers. Take that blue salvia I'd just given him, for example. I was pretty sure he didn't know the name of that flower let alone the meaning of it. Still, though, I couldn't be sure. After all, red roses were mainstream. They were well-known. I couldn't be sure if he knew or not.

I sat there on the stool trying not to feel the way I felt because I had zero right to feel that way.

"Are you okay?"

I looked up and there was Jackson again with a concerned look on his face. It was then that I realized I must have been doing a lackluster job of keeping my composure now that Akito was gone.

"Oh yeah, I'm. . .I'm fine. What's up, Jack?"

He studied me in silence for a second. "I needed another flower."

I pasted on a smile and started to get up. "Alright. What kind?"

He put a hand on my shoulder and said "I'll get it."

I watched curiously as he came behind the counter and looked through my father's flowers. It was probably a good thing my father was busy lecturing Oliver because if he knew Jackson was back there he would not be pleased.

Jackson found what he was looking for and said "Close your eyes."

"What?" I asked, turning toward him on the stool as I tried to figure out what he was up to.

"Close your eyes, Violet," he insisted again.

He was looking at me so expectantly that I finally did as he asked and closed them. I felt him brush my hair back from my ear and slip something behind it.

There was the distinct sound of money being deposited on the table and then there was nothing. After about ten seconds I asked "Can I open my eyes now?"

When I didn't get a response, I peeked one open and Jackson was gone. I reached up and felt my ear and there was definitely a flower there. After searching through my rucksack, I found the small mirror I always kept inside. I pointed it toward my left ear and saw a single beautiful gardenia. Gardenias, I knew, were used to tell people they were lovely. Like in the case of Akito, I couldn't be sure Jack knew the meaning, but either way it brought a genuine smile to my face.

"Oh Jack," I whispered, wishing he'd stuck around to hear my words. "Thank you."

My father came back then, took notice of the gardenia, and said "Putting flowers in your hair now? The meaning suits you." It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him Jackson put the flower in my hair, not me, but then he spoke again. "Pay attention if somebody else gives you a gardenia, though. It has another meaning."

This piqued my interest. My father had taught me well, but he definitely knew more flower meanings than I did. And at the moment, I wanted to know what else a gardenia could be used to say. "Really? What, dad?"

He rubbed the back of his head and looked to the side rather thoughtfully before he answered me. "They can represent a secret love."


	10. Meeting Courtney

' _That's preposterous_ ,' I thought at first when my father told me about the other meaning of gardenias. ' _A secret love_?'

Nope. No way. Surely Jackson was just calling me lovely, and probably because he felt sorry for me sitting there looking so upset over Akito even though he didn't know that's what I was upset about. Nope. It was actually even more likely that he'd chosen the gardenia because he simply thought the flower was pretty and didn't know about either of the meanings at all. Then again, my father did have a few books at the cafe in his storage room talking about flowers. Perhaps Jackson looked through one of them one day and. . .Nuh-uh! Nope. The possibility of Jackson having secret feelings for me was slim to none. I would know if he was holding a secret flame for me.

Then again. . .I'd been in love with Akito for over ten years and he still didn't have a clue. Was it really that impossible of a notion? Was it really that unlikely that Jackson could have been trying to tell me something? I shook my head. No. We were cousins. That would be beyond weird. But. . .we weren't _actually_ cousins. Our families were close, but we weren't related biologically and not even legally for that matter. There was technically nothing tying us together as family aside from the bond formed when Howard took my father in after his mother left him as a teenager. Laney was my godmother, but that tied me to her specifically, not Jackson. Would it really be that weird? I bit at my bottom lip feeling confused and frustrated. It was like. . .a week after it happened and I was still agonizing over it. My parents' anniversary had come and gone. The Angling Contest, which I'd lost, had come and gone. All of that felt kind of foggy in my memory, though, because I had literally spent that whole week since Flower Day with my mind on the possibility of Jackson being interested in me.

"That's not what he was trying to say, though. Nope. So I don't know why I'm even thinking about it."

"Who wasn't trying to say what?"

I whirled around saw. . .nothing. Somebody cleared their throat and I looked down. I saw lots of purple, a pointy hat, and a perfectly curled mustache.

"Diego! Good afternoon. How have you been?" I was surprised that he was out and about without Enrique since the two of them were usually a duo, at least whenever they weren't with Raul which then made them all a trio.

Diego always used to special order items into his shop for the aspiring young artist I was. In fact, now that I had moved back, he was back to ordering things for me when I needed them. I was a farmer, but I was still an artist as well and that side of me was never going to go away even if I wasn't professionally pursuing it.

"I am well. And you are changing the subject."

"Oh, that? It's nothing, nothing," I said, trying to wave it away.

"Violet, I was young once too, you know!"

"You still are. Age is a number. Young is a state of mind," I said. I took a Philosophy class once. It was required and I was never really into it. I felt like I would have made my professor proud at that moment, though.

He laughed at me and said "Okay. If you don't want to tell me I'll be on my way to finish my walk."

He got about five feet away before I caved. "Alright, alright. Diego. . .you're a guy. So you know how guys think."

"I do!" he agreed cheerfully. "I am a salesman so I try to know the minds of people in general, though."

"So what if a guy may or may not have said something did he say it or did he not actually say it?" I immediately realized how jumbled that was so I started again. "I mean. . .I don't want to read too much into somebody's actions. I don't want to think that he means one thing when he actually means another. I don't want to assume that he feels something that he doesn't when he hasn't said as much. So how can I figure out what's going on in his head?" That still sounded kind of jumbled to me, but I wasn't willing to try to verbalize it all again.

Diego nodded a sage head as he listened to what I was saying and tried to make sense of something I didn't understand. You'd think that I would understand. I hadn't always been single so I'd had enough experience with being around guys who were interested in me to have some grasp on their thought process. You'd think. I was a twenty something year old woman. You'd think that I wouldn't be running around as confused as a teenager, but there I was. Jackson wasn't just any other guy, though. He was _Jackson_ who I'd always regarded as a cousin. Maybe the problem wasn't that I couldn't understand, but rather I was reluctant to try because, as I said before, it was Jackson. I felt like having a good ole facepalm. Diego started talking again before I could do that, though.

"Even if he doesn't say it, if he wants you to know then he will still communicate it. Pay attention because not all communication is verbal and if it is verbal it may be subtle. It is like when a customer comes into my store. Something nonverbal like their body language can indicate if they plan to buy something or if they just want to browse. If I make a sales pitch, nonverbal cues show me how effective my words are being. Their actions speak to me even if the customer doesn't say anything. If you don't want to read too much into his actions, wait and see if the actions point in the same direction consistently. If they do, that's him trying to communicate."

"Diego, why aren't you married?" I asked as I took in his advice.

He shrugged and said "I never found the right girl. I would have if I'd found her. Besides, keeping my brothers in line is a full-time job, and that's besides the shop. And neither of them are serious enough about being salesmen. At least somebody wants to learn something from me." Diego shook his head, seemingly dismissing his previous line of thought, before refocusing on me. "Have a good day, Violet!"

"You, too, Diego. Thanks."

I watched him walk away and decided that from then on I was going to be more astute when it came to Jackson. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be. If he did have those feelings, did I really want to know? What good would it be to know such a thing if all it would accomplish would be to make things awkward between us and cause unrest in the family? I'd never thought of Jackson that way and besides, I'd been in love with Akito for half my life. But. . .I'd never found the courage to tell him and then there was Courtney and. . .

Nope. It was better to try and go on oblivious. If Jackson wasn't actually saying anything then he must have known how weird it would make things, too. And of course, it was more likely that he didn't even know either of the meanings of gardenias and my father's words were just serving to make a fool of me in my own mind. Jackson didn't have any secret feelings for me. I was the queen of secret feelings. I was an expert in that area.

I had other things to think about, anyway. I had a big job coming up. Bluebell's esteemed mayor had asked me to help revitalize Bluebell by re-painting all the signs of the businesses in the area. He told me that only the hand of a true professional could pull it off so how could I say no? And then that somehow led to Rahi asking me to refresh the paint on the Konohana gate. They both said there was no pressure and to get around to doing it when I had the time. I somehow knew I was probably going to end up procrastinating on this particular project. Sooner or later I would have a lot of work ahead of me, though, and I knew that.

A day later I was in Konohana to complete a request for Ying. She asked for pancakes. That's right. She asked for pancakes. The request was actually specifically targeted toward my mom considering Ying loved her special recipe. When I asked for it, though, my mom turned the request over and let me try my hand at emulating whatever it was Ying found so special about her pancakes.

"Thank you," she told me in her reserved, polite, yet still warm way. "I'm sure these will be as delicious as Lillian's."

She was giving me my reward when I heard unfamiliar giggling coming in through the door. I was putting said reward, into my rucksack as I came face to face with the two people I had been dreading running into, both individually and especially together.

Neither of them noticed me at first. Courtney was still giggling and Akito was frowning about something and she was too busy giggling to notice his dissatisfaction over whatever it was. I put my bravest face on since there really was no avoiding. Well, I could probably dash through the door that led to the outside eating area, jump over the railing, and make an escape. I would look crazy doing that, though, so I stood my ground and gave them an upturn of my lips. "Akito. Fancy meeting you here."

His head whipped in my direction in a second. "Hey, Violet," he said, sounding a little unsure for some reason.

"Violet?" Courtney echoed. "This is the famous Violet I've heard so much about?" She then turned an appraising eye on me, looking me up and down. I wasn't sure what opinion she was forming of me inside her head, but I could have sworn I saw her eyes narrow. The narrowing was gone so quickly that I chalked it up to my imagination before she gave me a smile and held out her hand. "I'm Courtney Sinclair."

Courtney Sinclair, also known as Akito's girlfriend. . .

I closed the gap between us, shook her hand, and said "Violet Drayton."

"Apparently you two go way back, is that right?" she asked, motioning her head in Akito's direction.

"Hmm? Oh yeah. We go back so far we probably had diaper rash at the same time."

Courtney laughed and it sounded overly loud to my ears, like she was trying a little too hard. In other words, it sounded fake. I didn't know her well enough to make that judgment, though, so I pushed that thought aside. "I'm sorry," she said after a moment. "It's just. . .the thought of a tiny baby Akito with diaper rash is too precious."

"Well, I know Georgia has some pictures around somewhere. . ."

"Vi," he warned, looking more like himself than he had when he came through the door.

"What? I'm just saying I'm sure she'd love to share the cuteness. Those chubby cheeks. Oh, and those chubby little legs. . ."

He seemed to go a little red in the face. "Are you saying she showed you those?"

"I can't confirm or deny such a thing," I told him even though I was all but confessing. "All I can say is that I know for a fact that you've always been adorable."

He was smiling and I was smiling and Courtney cleared her throat. We both snapped out of our amusement and I suddenly realized I'd called him adorable in front of his girlfriend. I felt the sudden, intense need to get far away.

"Anyway, just ask Georgia one day when Akito is nowhere around and I'm sure she will pull out some pictures."

"Thank you," she said as she wrapped both her arms around Akito's left and stepped a little closer. Her stance almost struck me as being. . .territorial. "I'll be sure to do that."

I looked down at my watch. "Listen, I have to go. I have things to do and I'm running out of time and, uh. . .but it was nice to meet you Courtney. See you later, Ki."

I didn't wait for their responses. I got out of dodge as quickly as I could. That meeting was every bit as awkward as I'd thought it would be since the day Courtney came into town. I would have to do better in the future. I would have to do _much_ better in the future, no matter how much it cost me inside to do so. For Akito I would do better. I had to.

I escaped to the peace and quiet of Makoto's company and the orchard he tended to so diligently. We had trees on our property and they were well tended, but there was just something about this orchard that drew me to it. I was able to clear my head as I worked alongside him. He asked a couple of cursory questions and then he let me be alone with my thoughts while not being alone at the same time. Makoto wasn't much of a conversationalist, even if he had such a lovely voice, but he was always good company.

By the time the Stargazing festival rolled around, I had seen Akito and Courtney walking around both towns together enough times to build up an immunity. Well, enough of an immunity for me to not feel like I was dying on the inside. Well. . .Anyway, the Stargazing festival was similar to the Moon Viewing festival in Konohana. Since one was appreciating the stars and the other was appreciating the moon, though, people from both villages showed up to each one.

"The weather has been great today," Colby said as she sat on my bed watching me get ready. She moved over to my bulletin board and started laughing at an old picture of the two of us with Keiko and Willow. I was bent over with my chin on top of Willow's head, since she was so much shorter than me, which caused Willow's face to scrunch up rather comically. Meanwhile, Colby hand her hands held up and put bunny ears behind both mine and Keiko's heads. "The weather report said the sky should be crystal clear for the festival."

"That's one of the things I really missed about home when I lived in the city. You can't really see the stars there. There's too much pollution in the atmosphere."

Colby let out a frustrated sigh and said "At least you got to get out and go somewhere. Buena Vista was the farthest I'd ever been from home before that one time I got to visit you in the city with your parents."

"Are you saying you want to leave?" I asked, pausing with one leg in a pair of blue jean shorts.

"What? No. I mean, not permanently. I don't even want to leave for as long as you did. I just want the chance to see some different things, to travel a little. I want a few new experiences under my belt. Then, once I've had those, I can come home and continue on with my life and know that I don't have anything to regret."

"People can always find something to regret," I said under my breath, so low that she didn't hear me. "There's nothing wrong with that," I said loud enough for her ears to pick up as I put my other leg in and buttoned my shorts up. "I'm sure you'll get the chance to, okay? It will happen, even if I have to make sure it does myself."

Colby reached over and touched the now withered bouquet that I had yet to take out of my vase. "I'll hold you to that."

She was right. The weather was just right for this particular festival. I could see that on the way up to the mountaintop and that wasn't even giving me the full view. When we got up there, it appeared that everybody was unconsciously grouping together by age. And since all our other friends had yet to arrive, we found ourselves a nice quiet spot to talk amongst ourselves. I was just getting ready to say something to Colby when she said "He's here. And he brought _her_."

I looked around confused until I saw Akito walking up with Georgia and Kana. Courtney was by his side. I winced and looked away. "Well, it makes sense he would bring her. I mean, she's his girlfriend and it'd be kind of rude to tell her to stay home. . ."

"Oh Violet. You know what I mean."

Of course I knew what she meant. And I appreciated that she was upset on my behalf, but I had nobody to blame but myself. If I had taken the plunge years ago and put my cards on the table with Akito. . .Or if I had been honest with him in the weeks before Courtney came to town then maybe . .

"They're coming this way," Colby whispered. I groaned. But I reminded myself of what I'd decided before. I would try to do better for Akito's sake.

"Oh, hey there Ki. Courtney, it's nice to see you again."

Colby gave me a look that suggested I'd suddenly grown two additional heads and one of them belonged to a turtle.

"Violet. Colby. Court, you've met Colby, right?" Akito said, motioning between the two.

"Yes, I believe so. Your family owns that charming shop across the way from Georgia's right?"

"That's right," Colby said, flipping the switch and being the picture of civility. She even threw in a smile that almost fooled me. Almost.

"Colby, mom wants to talk to you," Kimberly said, showing up out of nowhere like a ninja before heading back the way she'd come from.

Colby frowned, looking from me to the other two and back again. "Don't have too much fun without me." She leaned next to my ear and whispered. "I am _so_ sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can."

When she was gone it immediately became awkward for me. I had resolved to do better for Akito, but that was harder than I'd thought it would be at the moment. Perhaps it was still a tad bit too soon for me to be in a prolonged social situation with the pair of them by myself. I didn't want to bolt like I had the last time, but I certainly didn't want to be where I was at the moment. Akito, I noticed, looked distinctly uncomfortable himself. Before anybody could attempt to strike up a conversation, though, an angel of mercy came out of nowhere.

"You guys didn't start the party without me, did you?" Jackson asked with his hands in his pockets and a casual smile on his face. He came to a stop next to me.

"No, man. You know the party never gets started until you show up," Akito informed him.

"This is true. I'm happy you still know this," Jackson said as the two of them did the secret handshake that they, along with Makoto, had mastered a long time ago. "How are you this evening, Courtney?"

"I'm great. And you?"

"I'm good. Listen, I need to steal Violet away for a minute. You two don't mind, right?"

Akito looked toward me and frowned a little. His eyes went in my direction, but never quite made it all the way over to me like they hit some kind of an invisible wall. Weird. "No," he said a little hesitantly. "Go ahead. We'll talk to you guys in a little while."

"How about you? You wanna come with me?" he directed the question toward me. I nodded, kind of at a loss for words at the moment. "Great," Jackson said as he took my hand and walked in the opposite direction of those two.

On the one hand, I felt relieved to be out of that particular situation. On the other hand, I had another reason to feel awkward because I had the whole gardenia thing still on my mind and I wasn't sure what to do with it. I mean, before if Jackson had taken my hand I wouldn't have thought anything of it. Now, with Diego's advice fresh on my mind, I was wondering if I should interpret the seemingly innocent gesture as something else.

' _You said you'd try and be oblivious_ ,' I mentally chastised myself. ' _That's right. Oblivious_.'

Jackson let go of my hand and as soon as he opened his mouth, I was relieved to realize I didn't feel awkward about anything because he seemed completely normal, like the same cousin I'd always known. The only one who could make this conversation awkward was me and I was determined not to do so. After all, I couldn't make it awkward if I was trying to be oblivious, right? ' _Oblivious.'_

"You know the names of constellations, don't you?"

"Hmm?" I blinked twice and said "Yeah, you know I do."

"Now, I know the Big Dipper, but what's that one?" he asked me, pointing to a cluster of stars in the sky.

"That's the Little Dipper." For some reason, I'd never really paid the Little Dipper that much attention, but I had always been able to identify it.

"I knew that. I was just testing you. Are you ready for the big one?" When I nodded, he continued. "How about that one?"

I followed his finger and saw what he saw. "Ah. That's Cassiopeia."

"It's cool, isn't it? I mean, it's shaped like a 'w' and that's a great letter, right?"

That earned an amused giggle out of me. "Right. That's the best letter ever."

"I think Cassiopeia has always been my favorite constellation. I never knew what its name was before, but that never stopped me from looking at it. So, which one do you like best?"

"My favorite constellation?" I looked at the night sky and searched until I found what I was looking for. I pointed at it until I was sure he was looking in the right place. "That's easy. I love Orion's Belt."

"Orion's Belt? What about the rest of Orion?" he asked, genuinely interested in the answer.

"Nope. Just his belt," I told him simply.

We didn't get to discuss it any further because at that moment, his father clapped his hands together and started talking. The festival was officially about to start. I looked over and saw that Colby had returned. In addition to her, Keiko, Makoto, and Willow had all showed up and I was pretty sure I saw Zhen over there, too. Interesting. Colby looked at me and motioned us over.

"There's our cue," Jackson said with a wink as we started back in the direction of our friends. "Orion's Belt will have to wait."


	11. Swimming with the Girls

"You know you're the number one dog in my heart, right?" I asked Rufus as I rubbed him behind the ears. He licked my chin in response to that. The summer animal contest was the previous day and this year it was for the dogs. We didn't enter Rufus, but he was a champion many times over as it was. Instead, another of our dogs took first place. "Just don't tell them, okay?" I told him as I inclined my head toward the other dogs I saw nearby. Rufus barked and wagged his tail, assuring me that my secret was safe with him. "Okay, I can see that you're tired. Go on in and rest. You've earned it."

Rufus did as he was told and made his way toward the house where his special bed was awaiting him. My mom just happened to open up the door and looked down.

"There you are!" she cooed, bending down and giving him attention, which he never passed up and especially not from her. As much as I loved Rufus, I knew my mother was probably the human love of his life. "Come in, come in."

The door shut behind them and I frowned. He got tired out so easily these days and that concerned me. I knew how old he was, but. . .Perhaps it was just the summer heat getting to him. He did have a lot of fur, after all.

I grabbed my bag from where I'd put it near the fence and took off toward the mountain. I'd spent a chunk of my day braving the bee huts for my mom and now I was on my way to have some fun. I had just made it to the end of the driveway when I ran into Dirk.

"Oh, Violet. Glad I ran into you," he said, gesturing toward me. Dirk was all about the hand gestures, I'd noticed long ago. He also had his customary smile on his face. He was always smiling. Dirk also had resting nice face. You know, how somebody always looks happy or pleasant even if they're just sitting there thinking because their face is naturally that way? Willow inherited that from him. That's why, whenever she was upset and her face showed it, the resulting expression was nothing short of adorable and kind of like an angry kitten. I usually kept that remark to myself, though, because she wouldn't like hearing something like that. "You've got mail."

"Really? Oh! It must be a letter from Marissa!" I said excitedly as he handed me the envelope. It had been a couple of weeks since I last got one so I was definitely wondering what was going on with her. "Thanks for bringing it."

"No problem. In case I don't run into her myself, tell Lillian I said hi," he said, gesturing down the driveway.

"Will do," I assured him as we parted ways and I headed toward the mountain. On the way to my ultimate destination, I took the time to excitedly read Marissa's letter. Her handwriting was as poor as ever, but her words were just as funny as I expected. By the time I made it under the bridge by the waterfall, my stomach hurt from laughing.

"What has you so tickled?" Keiko asked, talking at exactly the right volume to be comfortably heard over the waterfall.

I looked up and realized I was the last one to arrive. The four of us had planned to meet up for a day of swimming. Colby was floating in the water. Keiko was sitting on the dock dipping her feet in. As for Willow, she was searching for stuff behind the waterfall in one of those little nooks and crannies she was particularly adept at discovering.

Back in the day we all went swimming together all the time. Of course, back then my father had always insisted that I wore a one-piece swimsuit and he would've had me wear a t-shirt over that if my mother hadn't intervened. Today I was wearing a red bikini that he definitely wouldn't approve of.

"I got a letter from Marissa," I told Keiko as I sat my bag down and pulled off my shirt. I took off my shoes and sat them next to my bag before I got rid of my shorts as well. The letter was now safely tucked away in the pocket of my shorts. Keiko made room for me on the dock and I put one foot in. The water was nice and cool. I saw a fish swimming not too far away and wondered how much of a ruckus it would take for all the fish to end up being scared off.

"Ah, is that so? I'm happy you two have been keeping in touch. How is she doing?"

"She's doing fine. She told me a funny story about her eyebrows."

"Her eyebrows?" Willow came out from behind the waterfall with nothing to show for it except for a branch and a rock, which I was sure she'd put to use some kind of a way since she didn't like to be wasteful about anything she found. "You're going to have to explain this one."

"Okay. So Marissa grew up with bushy eyebrows and was teased about them as a child. As a result, she is particularly touchy when it comes to her eyebrows. They have to look perfect. I mean, absolutely and perfectly groomed with not even one single hair out of place. She doesn't like plucking them, though. She also doesn't like getting them waxed. So she uses this close cutting electric razor that is really precise. The hair grows back faster than it would otherwise, but this is the only method she will use. Apparently she was half asleep when she was grooming them recently and accidentally shaved half of her right eyebrow off."

"Oh, the poor thing!" Keiko exclaimed with a frown.

"That's not all, though. Marissa's solution to her problem was to take an eyebrow pencil and fill in where she cut too much off. And that worked a little too good because she forgot all about it and went to the gym. Which, let me tell you, is weird because Marissa's never bothered going to the gym before due to that high metabolism of hers. Actually, I went to the gym here and there during my first year in college. You know, I didn't want to get soft and lose all my strength I had from working on the farm. Then life started to get hectic and I stopped going and got totally weak and. . ."

"Violet," Colby interrupted.

I'd somehow managed to get off the subject. "Right. Sorry. Anyway, she worked out at the gym until she'd worked up a good sweat and when she was done, she ran into this handsome guy she'd had her eye on. Now that I think about it, she probably followed him to the gym in the first place and just started working out there to get him to notice her. That's _so_ something M would do. So in typical Marissa fashion, now that she had his attention, she flirted with him. And then came the awkward moment when he pointed out that her eyebrow was melting and dripping down onto her eyelid."

Colby and I burst out laughing. Willow did a facepalm. Keiko, on the other hand, threw her hand over her mouth and said "That's awful!"

"No wonder you two became friends. You both have a penchant for embarrassing situations," Colby pointed out.

"No, Marissa has a penchant for the outrageous. By the way, the whole melting eyebrow thing didn't deter her at all. She still got him to ask her out on a date."

"Good for her. Hey, Vi, guess what."

"What?" I had barely got the question out before Colby grabbed my arm and pulled me into the water.

"That," she told me rather cheekily.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, splashing in and scaring numerous fish away in the process. My first order of business once I was in there was to splash water on her. When she tried to splash me, she accidentally hit Willow and that prompted her to come in the water and splash Colby. The result was a water fight that not even Keiko escaped. Keiko had to stay on the dock because she never learned how to swim. We didn't want her to feel left out since she couldn't come all the way in, though, so we'd splashed her and she'd kicked water at us.

When that was over with, I was floating along lost in my thoughts when Willow said "Remember when Akito jumped down in here from the bridge?"

"Yes! And Makoto tried to stop him, but when he grabbed onto his arm he got dragged over, too," Keiko said with a snap of her fingers as she remembered.

"Let us not forget that Jackson dared him to do it in the first place," Colby chimed in.

"I'm just relieved that Jackson didn't dare him to jump from the top of the waterfall," I added.

Keiko pulled her feet out of the water and folded them underneath her. "We should have invited the guys. That would've been even more fun. It would've been like the old days."

"If we'd invited Akito, though, then he would've brought Courtney," Colby told her.

"Col, I can't live my life afraid that I'm going to run into Courtney. It will make me weird around Akito and he already chastised me about that before Courtney even came into town." I had to do better, right? I had to be better about the whole situation for his sake. I was trying.

"I invited Zhen," Willow announced as she climbed out of the water. "But he declined. He told me that a man should not see a young lady in a swimsuit until they are married. When I told him that he should marry me if that was the case, he choked on the tea he was drinking."

I swam under the bridge and rested against the stone. "You two aren't even technically dating so of course that shocked the poor guy."

Willow let out a long-suffering sigh and decided to wring some of the water out of her hair. "That's the problem. He gave me chocolate for Spring Harmony, even if he did it anonymously. And he finds little reasons to see me throughout the day and whether he says so or not, I know it's because he just wants to see me." I suddenly thought about when Jackson pulled me aside to talk about constellations at the festival and I wondered if he'd done that because he just wanted to talk to me. And of course that made me think about what Diego had said about non-verbal communication and actions pointing in the same direction. Did that action point in the same direction as the one on Flower Day? Was he trying to communicate something that night? Willow continued what she was talking about and snapped me out of my thoughts. "The other day when it rained, he even showed up at my door with an umbrella! He has feelings for me, too, I _know_ it. I just want him to move a little faster and admit it." She pouted and scrunched up her nose.

"Move faster?" Keiko echoed with a shake of her head. "I would wait for Makoto forever if I had to. We've been together so long now, though, that I feel it's time we take that next step. He still hasn't asked me to marry him, though."

I was glad I was under the shade of the bridge and nobody could see my face at the moment because I remembered what Akito had confided in me. Makotowas definitely ready to take the next step and he was planning on doing just that. And until he asked her, I had to pretend like I didn't know anything. I schooled my features and swam out from under the bridge over to the dock. I patted Keiko on the knee. "Don't worry. I'm sure Makoto will ask you soon."

"Thanks, Vi," Keiko said, putting her hand over mine and perking back up. "I just have to stay patient and I will surely be rewarded."

"That's the spirit," Colby said. "And at least your guy lives in the same town as you. Mine lives all the way in Buena Vista."

"Yes, how is Iggy?" I asked in reference to Ignacio.

"You know he doesn't like being called that," Colby pointed out in a reasonable tone.

I knew that. And I disregarded it because I didn't like Ignacio. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way. He was a handsome guy with an olive skin tone and a lovely accent. Something in his eyes, though, told me he was shifty. I'd told Colby and she'd listened to every word I said, but they were still together. I wasn't going to press her on the issue any more than I already had, though. Colby was the kind of person who listened less the more you tried to tell her something. It was always best to state your opinion and then back off when it came to her. If he was bad news then she'd find out for herself. They'd been together for a quite a while, not as long as Keiko and Makoto, but still long enough. I just hoped she'd find out his true colors before she made a colossal mistake like marry him or something. No. _Oh no_.

As much fun as it was to listen to them talking about the guys in their lives and me steadfastly avoiding talking about the two I had in mine, we eventually dispersed and went our separate ways for the day. My friends didn't know about what may or may not be going on with Jackson yet and I planned to keep it that way for a while. I spent a little while longer swimming on my own before I was ready to head out. I was on my way back up to the main road when I saw a familiar head of auburn hair.

' _Akito_ ,' I thought, my heart automatically doing that boom-clap thing at the sight of him. I was somewhere between elation and this irrational feeling of panic. He was looking off to the left and didn't see me yet. I wondered if I had time to reach in my canvas bag and find my shirt since I hadn't bothered to put it on over my red bikini top. At least my shorts were back on so there was that. Earlier with the girls I was completely at ease in what I was wearing. Now, seeing Akito heading in my direction, I felt different. I had Oliver's voice in the back of my mind from our discussion at the beginning of summer, the one where he'd said there were only so many layers you could take off before it became illegal or indecent. ' _Indecent. Indecent. Indecent._ ' That word from his mouth was ringing in my head. I'd taken great pleasure in seeing Akito without a shirt on before, but here I was with my little brother's voice in my head making me feel all kinds of awkward about him seeing my bikini top. Ironic.

Right as I was reaching into my bag I heard "Vi?"

With an inward sigh, I looked up and tried for a totally casual, nonchalant smile. "Oh, hey Ki. What's up?"

He took in my appearance with a sweep of his topaz eyes and turned his head so quickly that I didn't have a chance to so much as even glimpse his expression. I could have sworn I saw red filter into the part of his cheek I could still see for about three seconds before it vanished. "Nothing much. I was just, uh. . .taking a walk," he told me, sounding kind of choked. I wondered if he'd accidentally swallowed a piece of gum or something.

I wasn't surprised by his answer. Akito had this spot nearby high up on the mountain he liked to escape to at times. It was a secluded place to the left of the waterfall. "Were you going up to your special spot?"

He seemed surprised for a moment before giving me that easy-going smile of his and nodding. His ponytail trailed over his shoulder and he sent it back where it belonged with a flick of his wrist. "Yeah. You know all my favorite places, don't you?"

"Yep, pretty much," I confirmed.

"Since you're already here, do you want to come up with me?" he asked, pointing his thumb toward where he was going.

"That depends on whether or not I can put my shirt on first."

"By all means," he said, averting his gaze again and giving me a slice of privacy. Once my tank-top was back on I started climbing up and figured that was all the confirmation he'd need to know I was going to join him.

He got the message because I heard him following me. I felt his eyes on me, but I didn't look to confirm it. Before I knew it, though, he hurried up ahead of me and was determined to reach out and help me up to the top every step of the way. I was more than capable of getting up there by myself, and we both knew it, but I allowed him his gentlemanly gesture and adored him all the more for it. Once we made it up there, we walked in silence to where we were going. Akito sat under the shade of a tree and leaned back against the trunk. I stayed standing, but I leaned back against the tree next to his tree. I realized that my white shirt was now wet thanks to my bikini top and as a result, I could see through it The red was anything but subtle. ' _I just can't win_ ,' I thought as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"So. A red bikini, huh?"

"So it appears." Ironically, it was Akito's favorite color.

"I'm surprised your dad let you out the house in that."

"I'm a grown woman, Akito," I pointed out to him incredulously.

He stared at me for a moment before he said "That means he has no idea what you're wearing today."

He'd hit the nail on the head, of course, in typical Akito fashion. It was funny to me how there were times when he could pinpoint exactly what was going through my head, but he had no clue how I really felt about him. "I didn't show it to him, no. I mean, it's not like I have to run my outfits by him before I leave the house. I'm twenty-four." Akito had an amused little grin on his face that prompted me to finish with "He's not at home anyway. He's at work."

I could have sworn I heard him mumble something along the lines of "It looks good on you, though." I figured that was just my ears hearing what they wanted to since I could barely hear what he was saying. It's like an implied line in art. If you use three dots to make the shape of a triangle, your eyes will fill in the areas between the dots to make you see that triangle shape. That's what my ears were doing. Yep.

"So what were you and Jackson talking about the other night at the festival?" he asked.

"The stars. Constellations. You know how much I love astronomy."

"I do," he agreed as he pulled out individual blades of grass and lifted them to blow away on the breeze.

"He also informed me that 'w' is a great letter," I said with a little smile as I remembered how amusing I'd found his declarations about the letter and the constellation shaped like it.

"What?" Akito asked with a quizzical brow.

I shook my head and laughed. "Nevermind. It's one of those things that you just had to be there to get."

"I see," he said in a tone that struck me as unhappy.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked as I stood in front of him and crouched down.

"Nothing."

It didn't sound like nothing. Instead of badgering him about it, though, I asked "So what's up with the facial hair?"

"Huh?" he asked, still focused on the grass.

"This," I said as I grabbed his cheeks and turned his face toward mine. There was stubble along his jaw leading down to his chin. And while Akito was the more outdoorsy, rugged kind of guy I didn't like the scruffy look on him.

"Oh, that. Well, Courtney likes when I let it grow out. I shaved it after we broke up before, but now. . ."

"Hmm," was all I said.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing," I responded as I let go of his face and stood back up. "It's just. . .I don't like it. The facial hair, I mean. I think you look better when you're clean shaven, that's all."

"You wanna know something?" he asked as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. When I nodded, he continued. "I don't like it either."

I had wandered over toward the edge of the cliff as he was speaking. It was obscured by the trees nearby so it was difficult to see if you didn't already know it was there. After he said that, I spun on my heel and put my hands on my hips. "Why do you keep it, then? I mean, sure Courtney likes it. If you liked it, too, then that would be one thing. You not liking it, though, makes it something completely different. If you don't like it then get rid of it. Simple as that." I made it sound like a foregone conclusion.

"Simple as that, huh?"

"Yep. And I'm not just saying that because I want you to shave it off." Akito had always been good at helping me figure things out when I was unsure of myself. I just wanted to return the favor.

"I know," he said with a light in his golden eyes that originated from within. "I know. Hey, how about we hang out a little longer? We could get our rods and fish together for a while."

Sometimes when I looked at Akito, I felt like my heart was going to explode. This was one of those times. And it wasn't because of how appealing he was from the outside, although obviously he was quite nice to look at. It was because of what I had always seen exuding from the inside. It was because of that inner light.

"Sure. That sounds fun."


	12. An Unexpected Invitation

One of my favorite festivals of the year was definitely the Fireworks Festival. The festival didn't exist before I was born. A few years after the two towns made up and became close again, the festival was thought up as a way for both towns to come together and celebrate the end of summer. And since it was a festival marking the end of summer, it always took place on the last day of the season.

 _There's always a festival happening here. There's always a celebration of some sort. Everybody comes together and it really is like one big, happy family. Both towns are very picturesque, especially in Spring and Winter, even if I don't like Winter. I think you really would like it here if you ever need an escape. It's remote here, but it is beautiful and fun. If you ever want a vacation. . ._

I paused and tapped my pen against the desk as I thought about what I wanted to say next. I was writing a letter to Marissa. I steadily filled her in on things that had happened since the last time I wrote her. When I was done, I put it in the envelope I had already addressed and sealed it up. It was a festival day so the mail wasn't running. I would have to be sure to get it sent out the next day, in between the preparations for my father's birthday.

I finished up and went outside to get an early morning run in before it was time to work. I was up exceptionally early so I figured I might as well get some exercise in. When I was done stretching, I started jogging toward town. The light was still weak and I figured by the time I came back toward my driveway there would be enough visibility for me to go up the mountain a little before I headed back home. I needed a warm up like that before I jogged up the mountain's terrain, anyway.

A few birds were up and chirping, but it was still relatively quiet as I jogged my way toward Bluebell. All I could really hear was the beating of my heart and my breathing. The town was so peaceful as I made my way through it. I saw a light on in Colby's house and I figured her father was probably up getting ready for the day. Other than that, though, it appeared that everybody else was still sleeping. I entered the town square and ran to the left, going by the request board and Town Hall as well. I nearly made a complete circle before I veered off up the steps toward the cafe. I slowed to a walk and looked to the left. There was my dad's shop and a stool I could rest on. Instead, I went to the right. There were a couple of tables outside of the cafe and a flowerbed built with bricks next to those. I decided I would sit over there and have a little rest before I continued on my way.

For some reason, I decided to ignore the tables altogether and I had just hopped up onto the bricks of the flowerbed when I heard "Violet?"

"Aaah!" I said, nearly falling off. A pair of hands reached out and steadied me around my waist. The sun was starting to rise so there was enough light for me to discern the strong jawline and peridot eyes that belonged to Jackson. "Thanks. You scared me, Jack. Geez."

"What are you doing up so early?"

"Jogging. What are _you_ doing up so early? I mean, haven't you always said you're allergic to waking up so early?"

That was true. He actually said that once. His mother always had the hardest time getting him to get up for school in the morning when we were kids. One time he declared he was allergic to waking up that early and started scratching at his arms while claiming he was breaking out in hives.

The smile on his face let me know that he was thinking of the exact same incident. "I don't feel itchy at the moment, I'll have you know. And I'm not up early. I haven't gone to bed yet."

"You're setting a new record, aren't you Jack?"

Jackson always had been and always would be a night owl. Usually, he called it a night at two a.m. at the latest. The fact that it was around five-thirty and he had yet to sleep was something.

"I was writing a new song. I just. . .I feel more inspired at night. It's when I'm my most creative. The lyrics started coming to me and I had to roll with it. You know?"

"Actually, I do," I admitted. Since we were creative kindred spirits, I knew exactly what he meant. I just happened to usually feel my most creative in the afternoon rather than super late or early depending on how you chose to think about it. Once I got going on a work of art, though, hours would pass before I'd look up and realize what time it was. "When I'm working on a picture, hours can pass me by without me even noticing."

"Do you know what I think?" he asked as the early morning breeze tousled his silvery locks about.

"Hmm? What?" His hair was nearly the color of snow, so pristine and pure. Pretty.

"Sometime I should play you a song. And while I'm playing it, you should paint a picture. Whatever feelings the song inspires in you, whatever it makes you feel you should create a painting that reflects that," he suggested tentatively.

I was surprised. "You know what? That's a beautiful idea, Jack. It's like a meeting of creative minds. I like it. We should definitely do that sometime."

He smiled at me like it was the best news he'd heard all day. Then again, it was five-thirty in the morning so it _was_ the best news he'd heard all day. "Alright then. It's a date."

"Wait, I. . ." The awkwardness that I'd managed to hold at bay since the Stargazing Festival was back in full force. The gardenia thing was back on my mind and now there was even more to consider than that.

He yawned and stretched before he started walking away. "I'm gonna need to get some serious sleep now so I'm going home. But hey, I'll see you at the festival tonight. Later, Vi."

With a jaunty wave and a pep in his step, Jackson left me sitting there. It was at that moment, when I noticed the sudden lack of warmth around my waist, that I realized his hands had been there the entire time from the moment he'd stopped me from falling to right before he'd stretched.

I hopped down from the flowerbed and watched him as he walked away and disappeared inside the cafe. While his parents and sister lived on the top floor of Town Hall, Jackson preferred to stay with Howard whenever he wasn't out of town performing. Howard had two spare rooms and he enjoyed Jackson's company.

Leaning back against the bricks, I thought ' _Date_?' Surely he didn't mean it like a _date_ , date. People used that word all the time to reference meeting up without any romantic connotation. Right? _Right_? Diego talked to me about nonverbal communication and signs and whatnot. Well that right there was verbal. That was definitely a verbal indication. I knew I'd resolved to try and remain oblivious about the whole possibility of Jackson having feelings for me, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep doing so if Jackson really wanted me to know.

' _Jackson is interested in me_ that _way_? _Wait, what happened to the not a_ date _, date theory_? _'_ I plopped my forehead into my hand at that point. ' _He's my cousin_. _But he's really not_. _It's just_. . . _Ugh, I'm going to keep my cool and see if enough of his actions point in the same direction like Diego said. Yep, that's totally what I'm going to do_.'

I stayed there for a little while as I once again pondered the cousin who wasn't my cousin before I noticed Bluebell was being bathed in the soft light of dawn. When I looked down at my watch I realized that I didn't have enough time to finish my jog before heading home. So I did the next best thing and jogged on my way home.

Jogging typically helped to clear my mind, but on the way back I kept thinking about that silvery-white hair and how happy he looked when I said I wanted to go. I knew what disappointment looked like on Jackson's face and I had conflicting feelings about being the person to put it there if I were to tell him no.

By the time I made it home and stepped through the front door I smelled the heavenly aroma of coffee. I had just finished stirring my cup of coffee when my parents walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning," my mother said with a bright smile as she met up with me by the coffee pot.

"Good morning," I told her as I leaned back against the counter and took a drink. ' _Happiness. . ._ ' I thought as the caffeine entered my system. ' _Happiness is the first drink of coffee in the morning_.' I even let out a happy little sigh.

"It looks like you've been up a while. What have you been up to this morning?" my father asked as he reached for a cup so he could make him some tea.

It was an innocent question. I mean, I obviously had been up for a while so why wouldn't he wonder what I'd been up to? Unfortunately, when he asked that question, my mind quickly went back to Jackson at the flowerbed and I started to choke on the drink of coffee I was in the process of taking.

"Sis, you okay?" Oliver asked as he came into the room and started patting my back with a little more force than necessary. The boy obviously didn't know his own strength, but my back sure knew it.

"F-Fine. I'm fine," I said as I took a step forward and tried not to wince at the slightly painful back pat that was administered with good intentions. "Anyway," I said, looking at my father. "I wrote Marissa a letter and then I went for a jog." That was the truth. I did both those things. The knowledge that I was turning into the queen of not lying while not telling the whole truth was not lost on me.

That night I felt like putting on my favorite sundress as I said goodbye to my favorite season until next year. The knee-length dress was red with white polka dots and my favorite part was the fact that it had pockets. I pulled on a solid red hat that reminded me of the ones my father favored, only without the pattern. I opted for sandals and realized my toes would have to be covered up from now on because the weather was about to take a definite turn.

My usual festival accomplice, Colby, was otherwise engaged tonight because Ignacio was in town. That meant that I was flying solo. Well, I was sure Oliver had somebody else he was going to hang out with and my parents would welcome my company, but I didn't want to be a third wheel. That didn't really matter to me, though. I planned on mingling and making good conversation with whoever I came across so I figured I'd be fine.

I did walk up the mountain with my family, though, and on the way up my mother was telling a story.

"They had a festival like this in Flower Bud Village, did I ever tell you?"

Flower Bud Village was where my great great grandmother Raye met her husband, Alex, as I'd told Akito before. It was also where they'd raised my great grandmother, Penny, and her brother Julian.

"I think you did, yeah," I told her as my father put one arm around her shoulders and the other one around mine. The comforting and _not_ un-manly scent of flowers that followed him everywhere quickly enveloped me.

"Of course, theirs was always held on a beach. There's something to be said for the view at the top of the mountain, though. It's always so lovely," she spoke softly with a happy little sigh.

I definitely had to agree with that and took it into personal consideration. The view from a skyscraper in the city was great, but that view looked out over a concrete jungle. The view from the top of the mountain was better.

The Fireworks Festival was actually the brainchild of Eileen, so she was the person who obtained and oversaw the shooting off of the fireworks each year. Mako was the person who actually did the shooting off of the fireworks and Ayame went along to make sure Mako didn't hurt himself. The first year of the festival, that resulted in an argument between them because Mako found it offensive that she thought he would be incompetent enough to get injured with the fireworks. By the second year, he came to realize she just wanted to spend the festival with him even if he was busy the entire time and that was the real reason she came. Everything had been running smoothly ever since then. Ina sometimes went along, too, for a little extra supervising. I had a feeling that in a year or two, it would Makoto and Keiko out there instead of Mako and Ayame.

When I got up on the mountain, my eyes first landed on Colby and the nauseating person standing next to her. My automatic reaction was to try and duck behind my dad. He was tall. He could provide good cover. Unfortunately, Colby spotted me before I made it all the way behind him.

"Violet, hey!" she said, waving both arms back and forth to get my attention and to ensure she couldn't possibly be missed. "Get over here, lady."

With a displeased sigh, I stepped out from behind dad and went over to where Colby was standing with her boyfriend of seven years. He was standing there next to her looking confident, comfortable, and oily. And I don't mean he looked oily like he'd rubbed some baby oil on himself or something. He looked slick. Shifty. He looked as untrustworthy as ever.

"You look great, Col," I said as I stopped about five feet away, determined to keep my distance from Ignacio. "

It was true. She'd gone the extra mile for Ignacio tonight, as she usually did when he was in town. Colby usually favored clothes that were more functional and tomboyish, but tonight she was taking a more delicate, feminine approach.

"You, too!" she said enthusiastically. Her turquoise eyes were sparkling with such delight that I didn't have the heart to express my dissatisfaction with Ignacio, even though I could see where his eyes were looking and they weren't looking at Colby. They were looking at me, and not on my face if you know what I mean. I suddenly felt kind of. . .dirty and uncomfortable.

"Iggy," I said, simply using the nickname he despised to dig at him although that was as far as I was going to take it.

I saw his left eye twitch, the only sign of displeasure he was going to display, before he smiled at me and said "Violet." He closed the gap between us, which I had purposefully put there, and kissed my hand. "It is such a pleasure to see you again."

' _I wish I could say the same_ ,' I thought. I saw Colby out the corner of my eyes, though, smiling so happily and instead I came up with "You, too."

When he let go of my hand, I had to squelch the urge to wipe it on my dress. Whenever Akito did something like kiss a woman's hand, it came across as gentlemanly, polite, and even a bit swoon-worthy. Ignacio, however, came across as a total creeper when he did it. Ick.

Colby clapped her hands together and turned toward me. "Since you're already over here do you want to hang out with us tonight?"

I saw my opportunity to politely decline that invitation and I took it. "Thanks, but I had something I wanted to talk to Cheryl about and it can't wait, so. . ."

"Ah, go right ahead, then. I wanted Colby all to myself anyway so you are actually doing me a favor," Ignacio said with a knowing smile as he put an arm around Colby's shoulders and pulled her close. He knew I didn't like him and he found it amusing.

Colby let out a sigh that was somewhere between disappointed that I was going and happy that she was so close to Ignacio. "Alright. I'll see you when I see you, then. Have fun,Vi!"

"You, too," I replied as I was walking away. I could feel Ignacio's eyes on me and I wanted to escape into the crowd and break that contact off as soon as I could.

Luckily, once I made it to where I'd spotted Cheryl, a group of people moved in front of us and Ignacio couldn't see me anymore. "Cheryl! How are you? It's good to see you out and about," I enthused as I stopped in front of her. "Is that a. . .a wheelchair?"

Cheryl laughed and said "I have my good days and my bad days, but today's a good one. And yes, it's a wheelchair. I wanted to see the fireworks, but Phillip insisted I couldn't possibly make the walk all the way up the mountain in my condition." Cheryl wrinkled her nose in distaste at that. Cheryl was very opinionated so I could imagine how that conversation went. "Hiro helped us compromise by offering up this wheelchair and the promise that he would be checking on me all night. Phillip pushed me all the way up the mountain in this. You know, it's a good thing he's so strong because pushing a blimp can't be easy."

"Nonsense," I told Cheryl as she rubbed her stomach lovingly. "You're not a blimp, Cheryl. You look great."

"Mama, are the fireworks going to start soon?"

Their youngest daughter, Christina, ran up and jumped up and down in excitement.

Cheryl laughed and responded with "Yes, Chrissy. They're going to start soon."

"Yay!" was all Chrissy said before she ran back in the direction she'd come from.

Cheryl laughed some more and said "I remember when you were that age. You followed me, Rahi, and Ying _everywhere_."

"I remember," I told her with a laugh of my own before I pointed behind her. "It looks like your knight in shining armor is on his way."

She turned her head and saw her husband coming back. "Ah, my handsome warden has returned. I'm surprised he left me alone this long."

"I'm going to wander around now, but I'll be sure to stop by your farm soon, okay?"

"Okay," Cheryl said as she turned back around to look at me. "You better hurry off now before Phillip puts you on lockdown, too."

"I heard that," I could hear him say with a goodhearted laugh as I scurried away.

I tracked down Ying and talked to her for a while before I ran into Georgia.

"Violet. I'm so happy I ran into you!" she drawled as she caught up with me. "Listen, have you seen my son tonight?"

She only had two sons and I was willing to wager she didn't mean Alan so I said "No. I haven't seen Akito."

She frowned at that. "Bacon and sausage," she said under her breath. If I didn't know Georgia as well as I did, I'd think she'd gone crazy. But no, Georgia just liked to get creative with the substitutes she used for curse words. Something as simple as 'shoot' wouldn't do. She had a lot of those creative substitutes in her arsenal. Today's, apparently, was 'bacon and sausage.' "I figured if anybody had come across that boy, it would be you. I reckon he must not be here yet. If you do see him, will you let him know I'm looking for him?"

"Sure," I agreed.

"Thank you, sweetheart," she said before she hurried off and linked arms with Kana.

No sooner than the two of them disappeared into the crowd did I lay eyes on Akito. My heart went boom-clap at the sight of him in the firelight of the torches, which did interesting things to his hair. He had his hands in his pockets and was strolling toward me. My body automatically responded by gravitating toward him and I met him halfway.


	13. The Annual Fireworks Festival

**Author's Note:** It's time for some true colors to show. Take your corners. Round one, begin!

* * *

"You shaved it off," I noted as I took a look at Akito's smooth face. I tried not to sound as pleased as I felt.

He chuckled at that. "Yeah, I did. You were right. I _really_ didn't like it and I look better without it, anyway."

"Yeah, you look good. I mean. . . _it_ looks good. The absence of facial hair. Yeah, uh. . ." I tugged my hat farther down and wondered how I could have put my foot in my mouth so quickly into this conversation. I could feel that he was looking at me, but I stared down at my feet while I schooled my features.

"You look good, too," he spoke softly.

I didn't get to respond to that because as soon as I looked back up and opened my mouth, Courtney materialized out of nowhere. "There you are, handsome." She grabbed onto Akito's arm in that possessive way I'd noticed before. "You disappeared on me."

"I was just saying hi to Violet," he explained as she frowned a little. He didn't notice, though, because he was still looking at me. I, on the other hand, certainly noticed because I was looking at Courtney. She looked from Akito to me and back again before that frown of hers deepened.

"Violet, it's nice to see you." There was something in her voice that, for some reason, gave me the impression that this wasn't actually the case. "Well, look at you. You look. . ." She hesitated and looked me up and down before she raised a single eyebrow and said " _cute_. Actually, I'm sure I had a dress with polka dots just like that when I was a kid." She smiled at me and it was so insincere that there was no doubt in my mind she was mocking me with those words. "I'm not a fan of red, but. . ."

Courtney was leaving a very bad taste in my mouth with her assessment of me. So far she hadn't said anything that could be considered as outright insulting, no. It was the tone of voice she'd used while saying these things and my ability to read between the lines that let me know what was really going on. Cute is usually a flattering word and yet the way she'd said it sounded rather derogatory. Furthermore, she was implying that I looked like a child. That was what determined what came out of my mouth next.

"Well, if I remember correctly, red is Akito's _favorite_ color," I informed her as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Is it?" she asked, looking up at him as if this was news to her.

' _You don't know his favorite color_? _Who gets into a lengthy relationship with a man and doesn't find out what his favorite color is_?'

"It's also the color of his hair, more or less," I pointed out as I thought ' _You know, auburn_? _It's a variation of red_? _That color you don't like_.' I kept that bit of sarcasm locked away in my head, though, because that would only throw gasoline on the fire of the situation.

"Yes, I noticed that," Courtney told me in a clipped voice. "You know, it all makes sense now that he loves red. I mean, now I know why he bought me a red dress for my birthday last year. A dress I certainly wouldn't have worn when I was a kid."

"Okay, okay," Akito said, looking perplexed and slightly alarmed. "I'm pretty sure we all know by now that. . ."

"Hey," a voice interrupted Akito mid-sentence.

There was a hand on my arm and when I looked over I saw none other than Jackson. My stomach did a little flip-flop as I remembered our conversation earlier in the day. I felt as conflicted about it as before. I was also relieved, though, that he showed up when he did because I knew I was one step away from getting into a dirtier war of words with Courtney and I didn't want that.

' _I have to be better than that for Akito's sake_ ,' I reminded myself.

"Hey Jack. What's up?"

"You look great," he told me as he looked me up and down in an entirely different way than Courtney had. It was a slow, lingering look that suggested he wanted me to have time to notice it and recognize it for what it was. Well, there was a piece of nonverbal communication that I could hear loud and clear. At that point it didn't even matter whether or not any of his other signs had pointed in the same direction because that look was enough to say it all. He _had_ meant _date_ , date earlier. So much for being oblivious. "How about we leave these two lovebirds alone and go hang out for a while?"

My alternative was continuing on with the current train wreck that was my spat with Courtney, so I said "Sure." I looked back at Akito, who was looking between me and Jackson in a strange way, and said "I almost forgot, Ki Your mom wanted me to tell you that she's looking for you."

"Thanks," I heard him say kind of faintly as I left with Jackson.

We went over by the torches and I started tugging at my hat again, this time in agitation rather than embarrassment.

"You wanna tell me what all that was about?" Jackson asked with a curious expression as he nodded in the direction of the location where we'd just come from.

I took a deep, calming breath and said "Nothing. Courtney rubbed me the wrong way, is all. I've been nothing but nice to her since we met, but she. . .It doesn't matter. Thanks for getting me out of there."

"It was my pleasure," he said so earnestly that I looked up at him.

"Hey, Jackson, about. . ." I started in reference to the date he'd asked me on earlier.

"So, about Orion's Belt," he interrupted, unintentionally yet well-placed.

I blinked twice, surprised by the sudden direction the conversation was taking, and questioned "You're still thinking about that?"

"Only every day and every night since."

I couldn't help myself. I laughed and suddenly all those negative feelings Courtney had inspired in me evaporated. "Is that so?"

"It is." If I didn't know better, I'd say he was serious. "Anyway, about that belt. Why do you like it so much? I mean, it's not in a cool 'w' shape, so. . ."

"So? If you must know, those three bright stars in Orion's Belt are almost perfectly aligned. I just. . .I think that's cool. I like to call them my three lucky stars and if I look up at them, then surely something good will happen to me soon. That's silly, isn't it?"

He was quiet for a moment before he said "It's not silly at all. I think that's great. I think they'll be my lucky stars from now on, too."

"What? No, no, no, buddy. Those stars are spoken for. You'll have to find your own." I was being serious. I had no intentions of sharing Orion's Belt.

He took a few steps forward and scanned the sky. "Okay, then. How about that one over there?"

The only thing he could have possibly been pointing at was Venus. "Venus? That's a planet, Jackson, not a star."

"Is it up in the sky?" he hedged, taking on a reasonable tone.

"Yes," I said hesitantly since I could see where he was going with this.

"Is it shining next to all of those stars?"

". . .Yes. But you know that it's not a. . ."

"Then I'm going to call it my lucky star," he interrupted me before I could finish my sentence since he was fully aware of what I'd planned on saying. He stood there with his hand hands joined together behind his head as some sort of cradle as he looked up at the second brightest object in the night sky.

"Alright," I conceded as I took my hat off and finger combed my hair. It was a very warm night and my head was starting to sweat under the cap. "Venus can be your lucky star. Now that you're looking at it, surely something good will happen to you."

He looked over at me then and he said, I kid you not, he said "It already has."

It was such a corny thing to say at a time like that, so corny. Yet, I happened to be a fan of corny and cliche, if you'll recall. At that moment, I felt something I never thought I'd feel in correlation to Jackson. My father had spent years drilling it into my head. Jackson was my cousin, Jackson was my cousin, Jackson was my cousin even if we weren't really related. But there I was, feeling a sudden inexplicable attraction to him as the result of _one_ corny line.

It felt strange and it was something I certainly wasn't used to when it came to Jackson. I tried to find something to anchor me, something familiar that I was more comfortable with. I suddenly found my eyes scanning the crowd for Akito, for something that made a little more sense to me. Unfortunately, my eyes did find just him. My eyes found him and Courtney. My eyes found him and Courtney and they were. . .

' _Kissing._ '

It's not like I didn't know that they kissed. In my mind, I knew they kissed. I mean, if you know two people are in a relationship then it's not that big of an assumption to make that kissing happens. I had never actually seen them kiss before, though. I'd never seen Akito kiss _anybody_ , not even when he was dating that girl named Marisol when we were in high school in Buena Vista. Yet there he was kissing Courtney. I was looking for an anchor and yet as I stood there watching them, I suddenly felt more without an anchor than ever.

"Start."

"W-What?" I asked confusedly as I turned my head to look back up at Jackson. He'd just finished staying something and I only caught the very end of it.

"Didn't you hear a word the mayors just said? The fireworks are about to start."

I looked toward the middle of the clearing and sure enough, there both of the mayors were with almost everybody's attention on them, having just finished announcing that the fireworks were about to begin.

"Oh," was all I could say at the moment.

"Hey, look, there they go. They're starting, Violet!" he exclaimed as the first firework flew up into the sky.

 _Pop_!

It was a red one. The color lit up the sky before raining back down. Cardinal red. The irony was not lost on me.

 _Bam_!

Baby blue. Blue was Jackson's favorite color, right? That firework was blue.

 _Crackle, crackle, crackle_!

It was a bright rainbow contrasting starkly with the darkness of the sky.

I felt Jackson slip his hand into mine and I looked over at him. He wasn't looking at me. He was looking up at the fireworks and he was smiling. I didn't look back at Akito and Courtney. I couldn't. Instead, when Jackson squeezed my hand, I held on and squeezed back. And I watched the fireworks with him. I can't explain how, but when he was squeezing my hand I started to feel a little less like I was suddenly drifting at sea and a little more. . .anchored. Maybe I needed something, some _one_ to hold on to and he just happened to be there. Or maybe, just maybe, it was something more.

Perhaps that was why, when the festival ended and Jackson told me not to forget we had that date to go on, that I didn't try to correct him this time. Instead I simply smiled and said "I'll see you then."

That night, when I went to bed, I had a hard time falling asleep. My mind was a jumble of all things Akito, Courtney, and Jackson. I was still in love with Akito. Seeing one kiss between him and Courtney didn't change that. It truly hurt me and hurt, by the way, is an understatement. Still, though, my feelings remained unchanged. I suddenly felt something for Jackson, too, though. There was something there that wasn't there before, and it had nothing to do with the kiss I'd seen and I wasn't sure what it was. It was there, though.

The next morning, when my alarm went off, I certainly wasn't ready to get out of bed. That was especially the case since I had gotten up so early the previous day and went to sleep so late last night. It also could have something to do with the sudden shift in temperature that I could feel in my room. It was chilly and I did not like it. Fall had arrived overnight and it was already bringing me down.

I had to get up, though, because it was the first day of fall. The first day of fall was a special day because it was my father's birthday. I went to my closet and pulled out my housecoat. I then went to wake up Oliver. This time, however, I found him wide awake and fully dressed.

"Hey sis," he said in greeting as I stepped into his room. It was as messy as ever, but at least he himself was put together. "Good morning."

He was awfully chipper this morning. Now that I thought about it, I did remember seeing him standing next to Kimberly during the festival. That, in my estimation, would certainly explain his good mood. That would also answer the mystery of who he gave that chocolate treat to on Spring Harmony day.

"Good morning. Did you have a good time with Kimberly last night?"

He immediately paled before embarrassed color shot through his cheeks. "W-W-What do you mean? We were just discussing p-plants. And fireworks."

"I didn't say you were doing anything otherwise," I told him, suppressing a laugh brought on by how adorable he was as I left the room. When he didn't follow, I poked my head back inside and said "Come on, Ollie, get a move on. You know we're a family of early risers and today's important." He scowled at me as he finally came out the room. Before he could walk by me I grabbed his arm and pulled him to me and locked him into a hug. "Come on now, kiddo. I wasn't trying to embarrass you. . .this time. Look, I just want you to know that I think Kim is a great girl. If you like her then you certainly have my approval."

I felt him relax against me and accept the hug. Then I snatched off his hat and ruffled his hair before putting it back and veering off toward the thermostat to raise the temperature in the house to something more to my liking. Oliver waited for me patiently before we started toward the kitchen where I could smell coffee brewing. Mom was already up, of course, getting ready to prepare my dad's breakfast. Oliver and I came in just in time to help her. She hadn't yet decided what she was going to make, but it was sure to be something spicy considering how much my father loved spicy dishes. Breakfast was always a toss-up, but dinner on his birthday was _always_ written in stone. His favorite dish of all was tom yum goong and had _never_ requested anything else on his birthday. He had always humored me and let me make him a cake even though I knew he easily could have gone without one if it were left up to him. It was never chocolate, and he'd always eat one small piece of it for me. That was all, though. The man wasn't a fan of sweets and he had his limits so the rest of the cake went to the three of us.

"Do you know what I remember?" my mother asked as she added cayenne pepper to the eggs she was almost done preparing to scramble.

"What's that?" Oliver asked as he passed her the black pepper and watched her add that, too.

She hooked some hair back behind her ear before she started to whisk. "I remember the year on your father's birthday when the present I gave him was you."

"Me?" Oliver asked, turning his head completely in her direction since the subject of himself was of definite interest to him.

"Mmm-hmm."

I remembered that day clearly. I mean, it's not every day that your mother tells you that you're going to be a big sister. I'm not sure who was more excited about it, me or my father. He twirled my mother around when he heard. When I heard, I jumped up and down and accidentally knocked a ceramic vase off a shelf. Luckily, it didn't break. That was the first year I got to make my father's birthday cake, too. Well, my mom had to help me some, but a lot of it was me.

It was the first time I was home for my father's birthday in years so I was very careful not to tread into any topic the entire day that could in any way tie back to the subject of Jackson. And luckily, Jackson wasn't mentioned by anybody else. For some reason, I felt that if Jackson came up in any way, shape, or form that I would accidentally gush coffee out my nose or choke on some food. Or I would trip over my own feet since I was known to be a clumsy person at times. And if something like that happened, I knew my father's radar would go off and he would know that something was up. My father tended to be a quiet person, but he was also observant. Even if he chose not to comment on something he saw, that didn't mean he didn't notice it in the first place. What had he noticed with me and Jackson so far? How long could he go on noticing things between me and Jackson until he did choose to make a comment?

Of course, it didn't help not one little bit when there was a knock on the door at about nine o'clock that night. Nobody else was in the living room at the moment so nobody else heard. When I opened it up, I came face to face with the notorious night owl himself.

"Jackson, what are you doing here?" I whispered as I stepped outside and shut the door behind me as quietly as possible.

"Violet, why are you whispering?" he asked as he ran a hand through his hair.

I ran my hands up and down my arms, disliking the cool quality of the air and hoping that I didn't catch a cold as I sometimes tended to when the weather suddenly switched from warm to cool or vice versa.

"I. . ." I couldn't tell him that I had this irrational fear that my father would hear us from where he was all the way at the back of the house and pop his head out the door. Instead, I responded with a question of my own. "What's up, Jack? Why are you here so late?"

"I was in the neighborhood?" he deadpanned as he scratched the back of his head and looked to the right. "Okay, okay. I was walking along and I looked up at the sky and I saw my lucky star."

"Venus. The _planet_ ," I intoned with a quirking of my lips.

"And I figured that if something good was going to happen to me then surely it would be over here," he continued as he took a step closer to me. "So, since we never ironed out when our little excursion was going to occur, I thought we'd get that ironed out now."

As he took that step toward me I picked up a curious whiff of freshly mowed grass. I'd noticed it before, but I'd chalked it up to somebody having actually cut some grass. And I'd been too upset at the festival to properly pay attention to it. Now, though, I realized it had been coming from him all along. I felt a flutter in my stomach as I realized I liked it. It was ironic because Akito was more outdoorsy than Jackson so you'd figure he'd smell like grass and Jackson would smell like laundry detergent, but. . .

I shut the door on that train of thought. I really didn't want to think about Akito at the moment.

"How does Thursday sound? We can meet up on the mountain about, say. . .two o'clock?"

Unfortunately, I couldn't stop Akito from popping into my head again. This time, though, it was an unfortunate replay of the kiss I'd witnessed between him and Courtney and I mentally cringed. I looked up at Jackson, though, and I found those thoughts melting away. It was a. . .it was a _relief._ Before I could question the words leaving my mouth, before I could give it any more thought than I already had, I decided to say "Yes. Actually, Thursday works out great for me. I'll meet you on the mountain."


	14. Violet and Jackson's First Date

**Author's Note:** So since an awesome reviewer came up with the lovely name of 'Vikito' when it comes to Violet and Akito, I was wondering what in the world one would call Violet and Jackson. Jacklet? That's kinda cool. Vackson? No, I don't like that one. Vickson? Eh. . . Violon? Jiolet? Somebody come up with something or else tell me which one of these ones you like and I'll let you guys know what I think is awesome-sauce. I also think I'll show you something special I've been working on at the beginning of the next chapter. See you in a few days.

* * *

The funny thing about ironing out a day and a time for the date between me and Jackson was that I didn't have a location. Well, I knew we were meeting on the mountain, but I didn't have a more specific location. The mountain was a large place and I didn't know where exactly he planned on being. I'd thought that maybe he would be on the main path since he'd never been one for really exploring the mountain. When I got onto that path, though, Jackson was nowhere to be found.

"Jack?" I called out, hoping my voice would carry on the wind and he would hear me. No such luck.

I was convinced that staying on that main path was my best bet of locating him, though, so I stuck to my guns and continued walking on. I was just about at the top of the mountain when I heard the gentle strum of a guitar.

Jack?" I tried again uncertainly. There was no response, but I knew I could still hear a guitar.

I readjusted the canvas bag on my shoulder and continued on. When I finally did reach the mountaintop, the sound of the guitar grew louder. Rather than calling out again, I just followed the sound and it led me straight to the pond of the Harvest Goddess. There Jackson was, sitting right in front of the pond on a blanket, playing his guitar.

He heard my approach and turned enough to look over his shoulder without straining his neck. "You're here," he said with an exuberance I hadn't been expecting. It caught me off guard, but in a good way. He sat the guitar aside and jumped up so he could come and meet me halfway.

"Mmm-hmm. I followed the sound of the music," I told him.

"Yeah, about that," he said kind of bashfully as he fiddled with his hands behind his back. "It was kind of a silly idea, I know and yet. . .I was going to wait for you outside of Bluebell, but then I thought I'd just play music until you found me. I wanted to lure you to me with the music. Kind of like a siren."

"You do know sirens are female, don't you?" I questioned as I tried to keep my amusement at bay.

"So?"

"And they lure men to them so they can kill them?"

"Oh. You know what? I actually hadn't thought of that," he admitted. I met his eyes and we maintained neutral eye contact for about five seconds before we both started laughing in earnest. The dimple in his right cheek made an appearance and I suddenly realized how many times I'd overlooked that feature of his.

Still chuckling softly under his breath, Jackson led me over to the blanket and motioned for me to sit down before he did the same.

"You know," he commented as he made himself comfortable. "My father and you have opposite problems when it comes to the seasons."

I had been covering my ears up with my hair in an attempt to keep them warm and quickly dropped my hands. "Ah, you mean since he loves cool weather and I'm not its biggest fan?" It was a known fact that Mikhail preferred the cooler seasons. Spring, he could handle. He was typically miserable during summer, though, even if he didn't show it on the outside.

He simply nodded before he asked "You're not too cold out here, are you?"

"I'm fine," I told him, even as I fought the temptation to rub my arms to get a little more heat generated. I wished I'd worn a long-sleeved shirt under my jacket. "Now that you do have me here," I began as I sat cross-legged across from him with the pond to my left. "what do you plan on doing with me?" A second too late, I realized that could come across as suggestive so I hurried to add. "You're not actually planning on killing me, are you?"

He smiled a crooked smile, his lips pulling up at the right side and revealing his dimple again. ' _I bet that gets him a lot of attention with the ladies_ ,' I noted, wondering again how many times I had failed to take proper notice of it myself. I knew every plane of Akito's face. I knew every detail from the gentle arch of his eyebrows to the faint dusting of freckles that started at the inside of his cheeks and met at the bridge of his nose. I even knew of the barely noticeable scar he had on his chin. Yet I had never studied Jackson so closely even though I'd known him my entire life.

"I don't plan on killing you," he hesitated before he said " _today_. Tomorrow might be more convenient. You never know." He chuckled lightly and lightly smacked his knee a few times as he did so. "Anyway, now that you're here I plan on using my music to make you feel something special."

The air was chilly, but his words made me feel suddenly warm. I squelched that warmth down and tried to focus on the task at hand. I had agreed to go on this date with Jackson, but I had to find a way to let him down easily. I hated the thought of disappointing him, but this had to happen. At least I had attended the date. Ultimately, though, I had to be honest with him. I had to tell him I thought of him as only a cousin, could never think of him any other way even though I'd felt an unexpected attraction to him on the night of the Fireworks Festival. Something in my thoughts struck me as untrue, but I chose not to dwell and not to try to figure out what wasn't sitting right with me.

I had fallen silent and Jackson cleared his throat to get my attention. That brought me out of my thoughts and I suddenly remembered what part I was supposed to be playing in the day's activities. I pulled my canvas bag back toward me and started rifling through it. If I had to get technical, acrylic was my favorite paint to work with. That day, though, I chose to bring along watercolor instead. I pulled out my palette and my tubes of paint, squirting colors out in modest amounts. I didn't like wasting paint and figured if I needed extra then I'd squeeze more out accordingly.

When that was done, I pulled out some paint brushes and a bottle of water. Jackson pointed at the water and wondered aloud. "Do you think you'll get thirsty with all that painting?"

Glancing at the bottle, I shook my head. "No. I just need some way to rinse my brushes until I can get home and do a more thorough job. I certainly can't rinse them in the pond. The Harvest Goddess wouldn't like that." I waved a brush at him before I sat it down on cloth I'd brought with me. Then I pulled out a pad of watercolor paper that was heavy enough to withstand the paint without buckling.

"Looks like you're all set," Jackson spoke as he took the strap of his guitar and pulled it over his head. He adjusted his instrument until it was sitting comfortably and asked "Are you ready?" When I gave him a shrug, he took that as his cue to start playing.

He started off with a song I was sure I'd heard on the radio before. It was by some band I'd seen pop up on TV often enough in the city. It was a catchy tune that I'd always liked. I watched him while he played. I watched the way his fingers strummed those strings. They were sure and confident. Expert. They were kind of mesmerizing, actually. I thought about my own fingers and wondered how they looked to people when I was working on a picture. I didn't think they appeared as sure and as graceful as Jackson's fingers did.

That song came to a finish rather quickly and then he shifted into something I didn't know at all. I felt like it was probably an original, something he'd written. For all I knew it could have been the song he'd been working on that night he stayed up when I came across him in the early morning in Bluebell. It was beautiful, though.

I found myself turning my attention to his face as he played. He wasn't looking at me. In fact, his eyes were closed and I could tell that he was deeply into his music at that point. For some reason, I couldn't stop myself from taking the opportunity to look at his face in a way I never had before. I looked at it closely, drinking in all those details that I had never examined too closely. His eyelashes were longer than I'd anticipated and they were this sooty gray shade. A small mole was just above his left eyebrow, so tiny I could see how I'd missed it. In fact, if I the breeze hadn't blown his bangs aside at that exact moment I was sure I wouldn't have noticed it then at all. The way the afternoon light was hitting the side of his face accentuated his high cheekbones and the strong line of his jaw. He smiled as he played and there was that dimple again.

Strangely, I have no idea when I pulled a black ink pen out of my bag and started drawing him. I'd never considered drawing Jackson before. I'd drawn Akito more than once when I was younger, but never Jackson. My strokes were of a sketchy quality, which wasn't like me. Usually, I preferred clean and precise lines. I was okay with the sketchiness, though. Even if the lines were sketchy, they were curiously sure.

He switched songs again and I traded in my pen for a paintbrush and started adding color to the image. As I painted, I listened to his music and just let it flow over me. It was strange, and my corniness is about to rear its head again, but it was almost as if we were in our own little world. When I felt as if my picture was complete enough, I sat the paintbrush I was using down next to a smaller one I'd used that was well suited for details. I continued to watch him play and just stare at him.

A thought I hadn't been expecting came to me then. It was comprised of just two words, but they were words that shocked me as I thought them. ' _He's handsome_.'

I had been leaning forward with my chin propped in my hand and my elbow digging painlessly into my leg. As soon as that thought filtered through my mind, though, I sat up ramrod straight. I looked away from Jackson, anywhere _but_ at Jackson as I silently assessed this thought. ' _He's handsome_.' There. It came to me again, almost as if it were somebody else's thoughts that had gotten lost and accidentally trekked through my brain. Daring to look at Jackson again, I reached my hand back out toward a paintbrush and dipped it into some of the paint. So much for the picture being complete enough for me. I started filling in the background with more chaotic, jumbled strokes while I thought.

Of course Jackson was handsome. I'd always known that. I had always known it in a more detached way, though. I mean, the grass was a jade green color. The afternoon sky was a cerulean blue. Dolphins were mammals. All of these were facts. They were things I knew, but didn't have any invested feeling about. Now, though, this wasn't a detached, general observation. This was something else. My stomach felt fluttery and I rested one hand against it, willing it to calm down.

Jackson's latest song came to an end and one eye eased open before he started another. His fingers stilled as his other eye opened and both came to rest on me. They looked like the color of new leaves in spring. "Sorry, I got kind of wrapped up in that. Are you done?" he asked, motioning toward the picture that sat in my lap. Still I sat there staring at him in a dumbfounded kind of way. His face shifted to a concerned expression and he waved his hand in front of my face. "Vi?"

I shut my eyes and rubbed them, hoping I didn't get a stray glob of paint on either hand that went unnoticed, and pulled myself together. "Yeah. I'm done. Uh. . .I never consider anything I do completely complete, though, because there's always something I think can be improved. I mean, nothing is perfect, right? So it's not perfect. That's kind of ironic considering I'm an artistic perfectionist, but. . .For now, though, this is good. That is, it'll do." I realized I was starting to ramble, something I usually only ever did when I was around Akito, and clamped my mouth shut. What the heck was going on with me?!

"Do you mind if I. . .?" he asked, trailing off uncertainly as he glanced toward the picture.

"Go ahead," I said, tugging the bill of the cap I was wearing down enough to hide my eyes from him if I angled my head down. I could still see him just fine, but I was sufficiently hidden from him.

His eyes rove across the paper and a gentle smile graced his lips. He also lifted an eyebrow, though, as he looked up at me and said "This is a portrait of me."

"It is?" I asked kind of dumbly. He handed the pad of paper back to me and I looked down at the picture. Sure enough, it was a portrait of him. Somehow, I'd been simultaneously aware that I'd been drawing him, yet also somehow unaware of it. It was like my mind was present enough for me to do the task, but another part of my mind was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't completely realized what I was doing. It was a mixed media of ink and watercolor and it was a good likeness if I did say so myself.

"Violet, how could you not know what you just drew _and_ painted?" he asked, amusement coloring his voice and I refused to look at him because if he was amused he was probably smiling and if he was smiling then that distracting dimple was probably out in full force. "It's a wonderful picture, Vi. I thought you were supposed to paint what you were feeling, though. You know, something more abstract."

"I did paint what I was feeling. Look, it's there in the background," I said, pointing at all the jumbled, squiggly lines of color.

His laughter was affectionate as he took another look at said background. "It looks like you were feeling confused."

The tone of his voice told me quite clearly that he was joking. Of course, he had no way of knowing that he'd somehow managed to hit the nail squarely on the head. Confused was exactly what I was feeling. It wasn't just that, though. There was something else there, something. . .

"How about it?" he questioned as he stretched his arms over his head. "Did I make you feel something special like I said I would?"

"Something like that," I mumbled distractedly as I worried at my bottom lip while I thought. That feeling. . .I'd felt it at the Fireworks Festival, too.

He beamed at me and said "That's good enough for me. Thank you good ole Venus for your assistance." He was referencing his lucky star that wasn't a star, saying that it had brought him good luck.

I suddenly remembered that I had a plan. I'd come on the date with Jackson, but it was time for me to give him a mild dose of reality. We were cousins, even if we weren't cousins. There couldn't be anything between me and him. There _wasn't_ anything between me and him. When I looked at him, though, I took in that silvery-white hair of his. I saw those peridot eyes. I saw that ever-present dimple that seemed like the last nail in the coffin. ' _He's handsome._ '

And that was when it came to me, the name for the feeling I'd had. It was attraction. I'd known full and well what it was at the Fireworks Festival and had tried not to put a name to it again since then, but there it was. With that realization, my resolve wavered. My plan dissolved. I was attracted to Jackson. My stomach was doing flip-flops as I considered this. Okay, I was undoubtedly attracted to Jackson. How in the world could I sit there and tell him that there was nothing between us when I had just acknowledged in my mind that something, shockingly, was there?

I grabbed my pen and signed my name hastily at the bottom right corner of the picture. I then tore it out of the pad and held it out to him. "Do you want this?"

He looked astounded at the suggestion. "Really? I can have it?"

"Sure," I answered simply. If my nerves weren't such a wreck at the moment, I would find his surprise kind of funny.

"Awesome," he enthused as he accepted the picture. "Hey, thanks. I'm going to take good care of this, just you wait and see. It's a Violet Drayton original." He held it out at arm's length, then looked at it more closely, then looked at me and smiled some more. The dimple was hidden by the corner of the picture and I was thankful for that.

"I'm glad you like it." I put my hand on my stomach again and groaned.

"You okay?" he asked with a frown as he leaned his weight on his left arm, held the paper in his right, and tilted his head to the side.

"I-I'm fine." I paused, considered, that, then shook my head. "Actually, I'm not. I do feel kind of weird now that I think about it."

Jackson leaned forward and put his hand on my forehead. "You don't have a fever. Is there anything I can do?"

He was close. He was closer than I needed him to be at the moment. He was so close that I could smell the earthy scent of fresh cut grass again. I didn't want to pull away abruptly, though, because that would make things awkward. So when he retracted his hand and pulled back, I felt relieved.

"No. I think I just need to get some rest. I'd hate to cut things short, but. . ."

I could see the disappointment cross his face. It was quick, though, gone in the blink of an eye. That didn't change the fact that I saw it. "You should go then," he told me with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Maybe it was the fact that he'd looked so genuinely disappointed and I'd never liked seeing him that way. Maybe it was the fact that I really had enjoyed myself. Or maybe it was the fact that I realized I was always _always_ running away, both physically and emotionally. I'd ran away from Akito that day at his house in Konohana. Maybe if I'd just confessed then, put all my cards out on the table before Courtney came to town, then I would have stood a chance. Maybe I just needed to get out my own way. Whatever the reason, I took a deep breath, pushed my hat up a little, and said "Nevermind. It passed. I'm feeling better now."

"You're staying, then?" he asked cheerfully, leaning back and evenly distributing his weight between both arms. The picture was in his lap and the sketchpad it came from was in mine.

"Yeah," I confirmed as I cautiously returned his smile. "I'll stay."


	15. It's Just a Cold!

**Author's Note:** Alrighty! Jacklet and Jiolet seemed to be the favorites among those names regarding Violet and Jackson. Honestly, I'm still kinda on the fence between the two. I'm leaning toward Jiolet.

That aside, though, I remember saying I had a surprise for you all the last time. I personally wanted something to look at while writing these chapters aside from what I was visualizing in my head so I drew a picture. If you haven't noticed yet, it's the new **cover image** for the story, although that version probably isn't great quality _and_ is cropped. You can use this here link http (colonslashslash) i68 . tinypic . com (slash) 15p4z1h . jpg ( **Be sure to delete the spaces and make the substitutions for the words I added so I could get the link to show in the document)** to get the proper full-sized look at it. I hope you like it. I also wonder how closely my interpretation of the characters matches how everybody else has been seeing them in their own minds. Now, though, it's time for one of my favorite chapters. Bye for now!

* * *

I had no idea what, exactly, was going on between me and Jackson, but I met up with him again the very next day. We finally went and did some foraging in the mountains like we'd talked about way back around the time I returned to Bluebell. I showed him all the best spots that Willow and I had scouted out long ago. It was fun and he even accidentally stumbled across a good spot that I had never even noticed before. Judging by the goodies inside, I was willing to wager that Willow hadn't ever happened upon it either. Could that be classified as a second date? If I had gone out with him twice, did that make us an item? Were we _dating_? And if so, then how in the world was I going to tell my father?

' _He's really_ not _my cousin_ ,' I kept telling myself as I stared out my bedroom window in the early morning.

' _He's not really my cousin_ ,' I insisted in my head as I went about working alongside my mother on the farm.

' _He's not my cousin_ ,' I thought as I sat at the tea house picking at my food. I found that I was strangely devoid of an appetite, which was probably a result of all this heavy thinking I was doing. I looked over and spotted Ying placing some more dishes on the counter to show the customers what deliciousness they could experience if they ordered something. I pushed the food aside and let out a disgruntled sigh.

Ying looked over and smiled at me softly before shifting into an expression radiating concern. She stopped fussing with the food over there and made her way over to my table. ". . .Violet, dear, are you ill?" she asked in her quiet, almost bashful way.

"No," I replied automatically. A second later, though, I reached for a napkin just in time to sneeze into it. "Yes," I groaned as I rubbed two fingers along the bridge of my nose as if that was going to do something to ease the sinus pressure that had suddenly formed there. Apparently it wasn't all the heavy thinking at fault. It was a cold.

"Oh no. Well, that would explain your lack of appetite," she commented as she looked at my barely touched plate. "Did you eat breakfast this morning?"

I paused a second and thought back. Now that I thought about it, I had declined breakfast and only requested a cup of coffee. My mother had insisted that I eat something in the afternoon since I was skipping breakfast and I'd promised her I would. I had tried, at least. I had failed. "I don't think I did."

She clucked her tongue in delicate disapproval before she felt my head. "You feel warm. . .I think you should go to the doctor. Or at the very least you should go home and rest."

I shook my head at that and pushed my chair back from the table. "I can't, though. There's a book I need from the library here in Konohana. Once I'm done with that, though, I'll take it easy."

Ying wrung her hands in front of her and considered me for a few moments before she finally relented. It's a good thing I was at the tea house in Konohana rather than the cafe in Bluebell. Had it been Laney fussing over me, she would have marched outside the cafe over to the flower shop and summoned my father. "Get some rest as soon as you can, okay?"

"I will," I promised as I got up and prepared to leave. Once I was outside, it occurred to me that I should probably make quick work of getting that book and getting home because once the symptoms of a cold hit me, they usually hit me fast and hard.

It made sense that I was getting sick. I had been expecting it to happen. This made me particularly unhappy because my mother would insist that I take it easy and not work on the farm while sick and I did _not_ want that downtime. I came back home to help her, not let a cold bring me down and make me useless.

I pulled my scarf closer around my neck and stuck my hands in my pockets, sniffling the whole while as I made my way to the town hall. I noticed on my way through that Keiko was nowhere to be seen. She was probably busy inside working and I knew if she saw me in this state she'd give me a good chiding anyway. I stopped at the request board and found a couple I wanted to work on. I had a week to get both of them done so I felt relatively confident. As I stored them in my bag, I walked up the path and hurried through the doors of Town Hall. I was instantly greeted by a warm room and this pleased me.

"Hello?" I called out and got no answer in return. Rahi was either upstairs or out in the town somewhere so there was apparently only me. With a shrug, I headed toward the stairs that led up to the bookcases. On my way up those stairs, I tripped. Luckily, I grabbed on to the railing and caught myself before I fell completely. I groaned as I slowly made my way up the rest of the stairs. Considering I was sick, now was not a good time for my natural clumsiness to make an appearance.

"Now, where is that book?" I mumbled to myself as I searched the lower shelves to no avail. I ultimately gave that up and retrieved the catalog that would tell me where the book was located. I leaned back against the railing as I ran my finger down the page. When I did find out the book's location, I looked up in disbelief. "The top shelf? You have got to be kidding me." I glanced around. "Rahi?" I tried again. He still wasn't back.

Searching the small space between the bookcases, I located the ladder that was kept there in case of such situations. I propped the ladder against the left-most bookcase where I needed it to be and looked up. It occurred to me, of course, that I probably shouldn't climb it. I was clumsy, which wasn't usually that big of a deal. I climbed around the mountain all the time and when I fell there it wasn't really serious. Okay, except for that time I miscalculated that jump on that mushroom and broke my leg in front of Willow. Anyway, I was clumsy and now I was sick and yet I found myself climbing that ladder anyway.

On the fourth rung, I quickly retrieved a napkin from my pocket, turned my head to the side, and sneezed into it so hard it almost knocked me off the ladder. After stuffing the napkin back into my pocket, I cautiously and carefully finished climbing up. I ran my fingers along the spines of the books, looking for the right one. ' _Aha_ ,' I thought as I came across the one I needed. I pulled it out of its spot and checked the cover to confirm that it was what I was looking for. And then. . .I dropped it. I quickly re-adjusted my grip on the rung and leaned down enough to catch the book before it got too far. Naturally, I was relieved. Clara Klutz almost dropped the book. Clara Klutz could have fallen off the ladder. Clara Klutz needed to get down before she hurt herself.

When I finally reached the bottom of the ladder and my feet hit the floor, I was relieved. I put the ladder back where it came from and put the book in my rucksack, which I carried on one shoulder. With a cheerful whistle that was interrupted by another sneeze, I hurried to the stairs. I started feeling lightheaded and congested when I got to that first step and. . .and. . .I slipped. Unfortunately, I was walking right down the middle of the stairs instead of the side so I couldn't reach the railing. Sure, it was only four steps but I knew that it wasn't going to be pretty falling down them. ' _At least there's a low probability of me breaking my leg this time_ ,' I thought with my heart hammering wildly against my chest as I tried to brace myself for impact with the floor.

Instead, I collided with something else. It was solid, but not as hard as the floor. It was warm, too. It also smelled great. Like. . .like. . . ' _Laundry detergent_?' My face was pressed against a warm chest and it definitely smelled strongly of laundry detergent. There was only one person I knew who smelled so strongly of that particular brand. My head shot up and I realized that very specifically I had landed on top of. . . _Akito_.

He groaned and opened his eyes, lifting his head enough to look at me. "Geez, Vi. I saw you falling as I walked in and barely got to you in time. What happened?"

I let out a humorless laugh. It was humorless because of two reasons. First, because I stupidly fell down the stairs. Second, because of all the people in the whole entire town that I could have possibly ended up on top of why oh why did it have to be _Akito_? My heart was thumping in an unsteady stream of boom-clap, boom-clap, boom-clap.

"What else? I'm a clumsy woman," I said by way of explanation as I fought off an avid blush. It was a blush brought on from not only my embarrassing fall, but also my proximity to Akito.

"Are you okay?" he asked as his eyebrows drew together in a concerned manner. "Your heart's beating so hard it feels like it's going to jump out your chest and flop onto mine." He started rubbing my back in an effort to calm me. It, unfortunately, had the opposite effect. "Calm down, Vi. You're okay now. You're okay now."

I swallowed hard and nodded my head silently. It took me about four and a half seconds to find my voice. "T-Thanks for catching me." This reminded me of a story I read once. There was a girl running on top of a roof trying to get away from a bad man. She tried to jump to the roof of another building and ultimately fell. Luckily for her, a handsome prince was down below to catch her. I hadn't been running from a bad guy on top of a roof when I fell. Akito, though, he was my. . .

The sound of Jackson's laughter rang through my mind and I suddenly felt something unexpected. I felt guilty. _Guilty_. That feeling is what prompted me to hastily try to get up off Akito. I suddenly felt lightheaded again and fell back down. My hands ended up pressed against Akito's firm chest and I found my face only an inch away from his. My eyes, which must have resembled two huge violet saucers, were staring down into those warm golden orbs of his. At that moment, there was nothing in the world I wanted more than to close that one inch gap between us and lower my lips over his. It would be so easy, wouldn't it? So easy. Another pang of guilt ripped through me and I abruptly rolled to the side and right off him. I hit the floor and quickly sat up. What was I thinking? Akito had a girlfriend. He had Courtney. And I had. . .Did I have. . .?

Daring a glance over at Akito, I saw that his head was turned to the right so far I couldn't see his face. I watched as he drew in a few deep breaths before he turned his head in the other direction and looked at me. "You have to be more careful, Vi. Wow, you're red." I touched my cheeks and realized that I'd lost my fight with my blush. It probably happened around the time I ended up an inch away from Akito's face. Akito reached out and placed one hand against my forehead and the other against his. "Your head is hot. I think you have a fever."

I coughed a couple of times and frowned. Before I could get a single word out, Akito hurried to his feet. He then grabbed my rucksack from where it was on the floor and swooped me up into his arms. I felt breathless for a second as he pulled me against his chest and started for the door. "W-What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you to see Hiro," he told me as if I should have already figured that out.

"What? No. Put me down, Ki"

"You're sick, Vi."

"I just have a cold," I huffed as I squirmed in his arms in an effort to get him to put me down.

He paused at the door and looked down at me with a look of incredulity. "You're so sick you fell down the stairs, Violet. _Stairs_."

I reached up and massaged the bridge of my nose again. A headache was coming on and I wasn't sure if it was because of my sinuses, the fall, or because of Akito. "I told you I fell because I'm clumsy, Ki. I know I'm clumsy. You know I'm clumsy. I fall all the time. I fell in the water that one day on the mountain and you didn't make me go to the doctor then."

"You weren't sick at the time, Violet. You're sick now."

"I'm fine, Akito. Let me down."

He stood there and seemed to debate whether or not to do as I said. I could see it in his eyes when he came to a decision. I thought he was going to put me back on my feet, but instead he said "I'll put you down on one condition. You have to tell me that your cold didn't have anything, absolutely _nothing_ to do with your fall."

"I. . ." I paused and thought back to when I was on that top step. I hadn't had anything to eat all day due to a lack of appetite. I worked on the farm all morning with nothing on my stomach except caffeine. I'd felt lightheaded on that top step due to all that which was a direct result of. . .my cold.

My realization must have shown on my face because Akito walked through the door and said "I thought so."

I stopped my squirming, but crossed my arms over my chest. "You can at least let me walk there if you're going to make me go," I complained before I uncrossed my arms long enough to cough into my elbow.

Akito kept on walking with those long strides of his. "You fell once, Violet. I'm not going to let you fall again on my watch today."

It was a lost cause and I had been aware of that the entire time. I didn't even know why I was trying to argue with him about this. Akito was that chivalrous gentleman kind of guy and there was no way I was going to get back on my feet until he was certain I was okay. People who happened to be out on the road were staring at us on our way through and I was tempted to hide my face against his chest because I couldn't believe I was in yet another embarrassing situation. Story of my life.

Akito brought me through the door of the clinic and I heard Hiro's concerned voice say "Goodness me! What has happened to Violet?"

I swiveled my head around to look at him and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine. It's just a small cold. Akito here is overreacting." I started fighting so hard to suppress the sneeze I could feel coming that I was surprised that tears of strain weren't coming out my eyes.

"She fell down the stairs in Town Hall," Akito ratted me out. Before I could point out to Hiro that I wasn't the most graceful person there was, Akito continued on. "She felt lightheaded from her cold right before it happened."

Hiro shook his head disapprovingly, his normally sweet face registering his disappointment with my supposed lack of concern for my own health. He was wrong, though. I _was_ concerned about my health. I just didn't think a trip to his clinic was necessary.

The good doctor placed a hand on my forehead. "Violet, I do believe that you are burning up!" He turned and looked at his assistant, who also happened to be none other than Makoto. "Please ensure that a bed is prepared at once for Ms. Drayton." Makoto nodded soundlessly before hurrying off to the left. Hiro went to retrieve something and left Akito and I alone in the front.

I counted to ten in my head. ' _One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten._ '

I took two deep breaths. ' _In. Out. One. In. Out_. _Two_.'

I felt the fight drain out of me and in its place there was simple resignation left. Akito's strong, muscular arms weren't letting me go anywhere but on that bed and I knew him well enough to know that he was going to be standing vigil until the appointment was over. He was looking toward where Makoto had gone and I could see the wheels turning in his head, although I didn't know what thoughts were filtering through. While he was doing that, I was looking up at him. If things could have been different. If I'd only spoken my mind if not years ago, then at least recently. . .Things weren't different, though. I'd messed up.

The sun was coming through the window and was showing a beautiful golden undertone to his auburn locks and that made me want to sink my fingers into his hair. The temptation was so great that I had to close my eyes against the sight of him. The memory of him and Courtney kissing before flashed across the backs of my eyelids, though, and my eyes shot open. I flinched back a little and had nowhere to go but back further into his arms. Akito looked down at me with an apologetic smile, probably thinking that said flinch had something to do with the spectacle he'd made of me from Town Hall all the way to the doctor's office. He had no way of knowing that as I stared into his amber eyes, a deep-seated sadness was taking up residence in my heart and squelching the boom-clap sensation. I felt like it would consume me, mind, body, and soul.

"Hey," Akito spoke gently. The smile fell from his face and in its place arose a distressed frown. "Violet, what's wrong?" He shifted so he was supporting all my weight with a single arm. Usually, a show of strength like that would make my heart flutter. Now, instead, the sadness only deepened. Akito used his freed hand to swipe something away from my cheek. The presence of moisture registered in my mind and I realized one traitorous tear had started trekking down my cheek before he stopped it. The pad of his thumb lingered there for a few extra seconds before he pulled it away. "Vi?"

I took in a shuddering breath and that only served to make me breath in the fresh, clean laundry scent of him. "I feel bad," was all I trusted myself to say.

It was true. I felt bad. He misunderstood, though, and thought it had to do with my cold. His expression softened into one of understanding even though he couldn't possibly understand. "See? You're sick, Vi. It was right to bring you here. Doctor Hiro will make you all better and you'll be back on your feet before you know it." He let out a faint, ironic laugh. "Literally."

There was nothing for me to say, really, so I decided that silence was my best bet. So I silently observed my surroundings. There was a bell on the counter that I had always liked to ring as a child. There was a desk against the wall behind the counter with an assortment of papers on top of it. There was a glass case next to the desk that Hiro came back in and started rifling through. I was silent as Akito readjusted me as he started distributing my weight evenly between both arms again. I was silent as he followed Hiro into the next room. I was silent as he carefully, gently, sat me on the bed at the far right side of the room.

Akito backed away and sat on the bed opposite of mine while Makoto shuffled out of the room to do something else for Hiro. When Makoto returned, he had a clipboard in one hand and a manila folder in the other. He took a couple of papers out of the folder before clipping them on the board and handing the clipboard to Hiro.

Hiro read over a few things on the clipboard before handing it back to Makoto and taking some things out of his medical bag. He gave me a small, routine exam and had Makoto take notes here and there. I responded to the questions asked as I looked around the room. I looked at the plant to the right. I looked at the window to the left. I noticed that the lamp on the table was different from the one I remembered. I steadfastly avoided looking at Akito for the time being, though. While I could certainly feel the intensity of his eyes as he watched me I didn't dare look to confirm it.

The doctor finally gave me a warm and kind smile before saying "Be sure to increase your intake of fluids. You must also be sure to provide yourself with proper nourishment to aid in your recovery. I understand your appetite may be lacking for the time being, but this is quite essential."

"Great. See, Ki?" I finally looked at him where he was sitting on that bed with his arms crossed over his chest. He was the picture of calm and patience although I felt like I could see something simmering there just below the surface.

Before I could drop my feet to the floor and even stand up, though, Hiro interrupted me. "I must also advise you to get plenty of rest for the time being. That means it is probably best for you to abstain from working until you are once again well."

I deflated immediately. It was just a cold. It was just a little cold. But. . .farm work was physically demanding and I wasn't at my best. My mother was going to know about this soon and while she couldn't tell me what to do anymore seeing as I was a grown woman, well. . .she was technically my boss at the farm. There was no doubt in my mind that my mother was going to tell me that working was out of the question.

"Okay," I muttered, not really having the energy anymore to object. I was feeling tired and I realized that the cold was taking more out of me than I'd thought.

Makoto handed me a bag with some medication to help with the symptoms and I was discharged from the clinic. I hopped up off the bed and strolled right by Akito with my head held high. He waited until I was about five steps away before he followed me. He was so hot on my heels that when I stopped abruptly he nearly plowed into the back of me. "I'm going home now, Akito."

"I know." He paused for so long that I finally turned around to see what was going on back there. "May I walk you there?" he inquired as I made eye contact, holding his arm out in invitation.

I knew that he was going to follow along behind me even if I didn't say yes. I knew that he would refuse to give me back my rucksack until I was home. I also knew that I was kind of unsteady on my feet at the moment and didn't feel like falling twice in one day. So I reached out and grabbed his arm while I did my best to push all of my feelings aside for the time being. "Okay."


	16. A Few Days Later

A few days later, I woke up feeling much better. The thing about me when I got sick was that I was usually hit kind of hard, but it didn't linger for long. I still felt kind of bad about the fact that I had to miss the Cooking Festival, but I felt better knowing that those were so frequent around these parts that another would pop up again very soon. As I glanced at my clock I became aware of the fact that I slept much longer and much later than I normally ever would. The clock said it was already eleven-thirty. It was nearly into the afternoon! That was a large chunk of the day gone. Poof. Vanished. With a groan, I laid my head back down on my pillow and stared up at my ceiling tiles.

"You're finally awake."

With a start, I sat up enough to see literally the last person I ever expected to see in my room and sitting in my chair, no less. She had her legs crossed and I noticed she was one of those people who liked to wear dresses even if the weather was cool. No doubt she probably had a long jacket to layer over it, but come on! Every time I saw a person like that I wondered how they could stand to let their legs be so cold. In my opinion, wearing a dress that time of year was only acceptable if one was going to a wedding, a funeral, or on a date. Her elbow was on the cushioned arm of my chair and her chin was resting comfortably in the palm of her hand. When our eyes met I saw no discernible shift in expression. She was just staring.

"Courtney?" I asked, wiping the sleep from my eyes in an effort to confirm that I wasn't seeing things.

Courtney uncrossed her legs and stood up. She was looking straight down at me looking like the glamorous city girl she was, all polished and perfect. And there I was, in my bed with a pair of purple plaid pajamas and my hair looking like a family of birds made their nest there.

Courtney suddenly smiled at me sweetly and said "It appears you are feeling much better. This is good. I hope you don't mind me being here. Your mother let me in when I told her I had something for you. You were asleep when I came in, but I haven't been here long." Before I could say anything else, she reached on the other side of my chair and produced a basket. "Georgia found herself busy this morning and asked that this basket be delivered to you. I volunteered."

I read between the lines and guessed that she spoke up before Akito had a chance to get a word out of his mouth. The slight narrowing of Courtney's eyes as she looked at me suggested this guess was right. "That was awfully sweet of her to send this," I replied as I accepted the basket and sat it next to me on my bed. "Would you do me a favor and tell Georgia I said thanks and that I will come in to thank her in person soon?"

"Of course," Courtney agreed as she walked back to the chair and sat down. I thought she would be leaving after giving me the basket yet there she was making herself comfortable again. I recalled our little spat during the Fireworks Festival and felt on edge. "Everybody's been so worried about you, you know. The news that you were sick spread all around like wildfire once word got out that Akito carried you all the way from Town Hall over to the clinic."

It was amazing how I was so bad at reading guys, yet so good at understanding the secret language of women that men are always baffled by. As a woman, it was ingrained in me since birth I suppose. And that innate knowledge in my head was telling me loud and clear that Courtney was irked. Just like it told me back at the festival that all of her nice words were masking negative commentary. "That's the way it is with close-knit communities," I informed her as I sat up and rested my back against the headboard. "We worry over our own." I resisted the urge to finger-comb my hair because I didn't want to send a message to her that her opinion about my appearance mattered to me.

Courtney seemed to be studying me as she said "So I've noticed." She stood back up and lingered in front of my bulletin board for a minute, studying my pictures. Surely she'd see more than one of Akito up there. When that minute passed, she turned around and stood before me while she pretended to pick an imaginary piece of lint off the front of her dress and then looked at me expectantly, as if she wanted me to notice something. That was when it struck me. Her dress was red. Seeing it made me recall how she'd mentioned Akito had given her a red dress for her birthday last year and here she was wearing it even though she'd said she wasn't a fan of red. That was when I remembered the kiss I'd witnessed between her and Akito. I also remembered the day he'd taken me to the clinic and all those feelings of regret and hopelessness I'd had then. Something about those feelings must have shown on my face because I saw Courtney smirk before she continued on. "I'm sure everybody will be _so_ relieved." She smoothed her dress down. "I suppose I'll be going now. I'll be sure to pass your message along to Georgia. You know, she's so sweet. She's almost like a second mother to me."

' _Oh, because_ that _was so subtle. Second mother_ , _my foot_!'

As Courtney opened my bedroom door and strolled out I threw my feet over the side of my bed and stood in my doorway. I watched as she grabbed her jacket from the coat rack and put it on in one fluid, graceful motion. Just as I'd suspected, it was long. It wasn't long enough to cover her legs, though, and I found myself wishing that they would freeze into two blocks of ice before she made it back into town. I caught the ugliness of my thoughts, though, and did my best to push them back down. Courtney turned to look at me and waved with a self-satisfied glimmer in her eyes. "I'll see you around."

With that said, she opened up the door. On the other side of the door, though, was my beloved Rufus. He took one look at Courtney and started growling. "Oh," Courtney said, a bundle of nerves. "What a c-cute dog. Um, hello there." She reached down to try and pet him in order to placate him and got an angry bark in response. She yelped a little and maneuvered around him before she took off at a brisk pace. I left one doorway in favor of the other to watch what was going on. Rufus started barking in earnest then, which riled the other dogs up. Courtney started running as the rest of the dogs started barking at her, too, and that's when I could hear her scream. A few even followed her halfway down the driveway.

I hadn't repeated what happened at the festival. I hadn't allowed Courtney to influence me to get into any kind of altercation. Although I couldn't guarantee I'd always be able to successfully resist that impulse, at least I had this time around. This wasn't something I'd done for me, on no. I'd done it for Akito. I should have felt victorious that I managed to keep my cool as well as I did. As I thought about Courtney's smirk and that glimmer in her eyes, though, I got the distinct impression that she had somehow gotten exactly what she'd wanted when she volunteered to come to my house. At least I had the immense satisfaction of knowing that she'd left my house far more scared than smug.

The door had been left open so I shut it once Rufus made it all the way inside. "Good boy! Who's a good boy?" I asked Rufus as I bent over and rubbed his head. "You are. Yes, you," I told him while scratching his ears. He wagged his tail enthusiastically and licked my hand.

When I went back to my room I sat back down on my bed and pulled the basket toward me. About two seconds later I heard the front door open and then my bedroom door as well. "Oh, you're finally awake!" mom enthused as she crossed the room and placed a hand against my forehead. "Your fever is gone. How are you feeling?"

"Much better."

"I see you got Georgia's get-well-soon gift," she said as she sat down on the bed in front of me. "Where did Courtney go? I heard the dogs barking and I thought I heard screaming. Is she okay?"

"Just peachy, mom. Ooh, I wonder what Georgia sent. I think I'll take a peek," I responded as I opened up the basket and took the opportunity to change the subject. When I glanced up at her, though, the expression on her face let me know that she knew what I was doing. She even smiled with a hint of amusement in her eyes. I suppose Courtney didn't hit it off as well with my mom as she'd probably thought she had. "Would you look at that. Apple pie! It's okay mom. I can see the longing in your eyes so I'll share. How about we all have this for dessert tonight? You can even eat dad's portion since he won't want any."

My mother pinched my cheek in a painless, playful way and said "You've always been so cheeky, no pun intended. I'm glad you're feeling well enough to be, though." She smoothed my hair down some, although it really was in dire need of brushing. "I suppose, if you insist, then I must accept your offer of pie."

"Oh, I insist." The apple pie looked delicious. Come to think of it, the soup Laney had brought over the previous day had been delicious as well. It really was like I'd told Courtney before. In close-knit communities we worried over our own.

She grew quiet for a minute as she contemplated me. Finally, as if she'd been reading my thoughts before, she said "Georgia is a dear friend of mine and Courtney is dating her son so let it never be said that I'm not polite. If I were to be honest, though, I'd have to admit I don't much care for that girl. I'd dare say that Rufus isn't particularly fond of her, either." Of course it was a forgone conclusion that my mother would be on Team Violet, but hearing her verbalize it made me feel like it was my birthday and she'd given me the one present I'd been hoping for all year.

With that said, she got up and groaned a little in the process. I didn't comment on it as I watched her take the basket for me and head off toward the kitchen to put the pie up for later. My mom may have looked rather youthful still, but she was pushing fifty. After over two decades of doing such physical work every day on the farm, it was getting to her. That much became apparent to me within one week of coming home, even if she always did her best to appear as if she was just fine. That, more than anything else, made me feel certain that moving back to Bluebell had been the right thing to do.

I knew her. She wasn't about to up and retire, no. She aspired to be like her grandmother Penelope, who continued to run her farm almost until the day she died. Luckily, Penelope had family around to help her achieve that. As for my mom, well, now she had me. The only person who had any chance of convincing her to retire anytime soon was my dad, and I wouldn't be surprised if he did decide to try that sometime after finally handing his shop over to Oliver. Until then, I was determined to do everything I could to lighten my mother's workload. That was why, really, getting sick and not being able to work had upset me so much.

When my mother came back, she insisted that I have something to eat. At first I thought I was doing it just to appease her and put her mind at ease. When that first bite went into my mouth, though, I suddenly realized just how hungry I actually was and I attacked that food like I was a T-Rex attacking some poor herbivore. A bath was definitely first up on my list of things to do after my stomach was full. After that, I got myself dressed and headed outside to see what was going on with the farm. I wasn't surprised to find that mom had taken care of everything and there was nothing left for me to do for the day. I felt a little dejected as I went inside to get my rucksack and decided to go into town.

There were a couple of requests I'd picked up in Konohana the day I got sick so I planned on working on those later. In the meantime, I sought out Colby. She ditched any work she was doing the second she spotted me and we stood against the fence of her pasture doing two things. Firstly, I was telling her all about Courtney's _charitable_ visit. Secondly, we were glaring in the general direction of the pet shop just in case she decided to emerge from the door. She didn't.

My best friend let out a disgruntled sound and said "I know you're single and beautiful and she _should_ feel threatened, but I'm about to lose my patience with that woman."

I scoffed at that. "Jealous? Yeah, right. Besides, I'm not. . .uh. . .I'm not _that_ single."

Colby's head slowly, very slowly swiveled around and she gave me a look that I faintly wondered if I should be afraid of. I had backed up a little bit so she turned her neck so far I was surprised she hadn't pulled a muscle in it. When her hand grabbed onto my arm and she started dragging me to the privacy of the barn, I thought ' _Okay, perhaps I really should be afraid. I might never emerge from here after I finish talking_.'

Once we were inside, Colby even shut the doors for good measure. Our only company was an animal or two that had strayed back inside throughout the course of the day. ' _Uh-oh_. . .' I stood there as Colby crossed her arms over her chest and walked around me in a circle. The expression on her face brought her mother to my mind and I had to fight the sudden urge to laugh.

"Well?" was all Colby said as she came to a stop between me and the barn doors. I got the distinct impression she had decided to block the exit in case I decided to make a run for it.

"What?"

"Who is he?" she demanded with a twitching left eyebrow. She didn't raise said eyebrow, it just kept jumping up and down in small amounts. When I didn't answer she continued on. "Did you go to Buena Vista when I wasn't looking and get back together with Juan?"

"Juan?" I strained to remember the guy in question. It took me a minute. "What? _No_." Juan was a guy I dated for like. . .half a minute around the time Colby got together with Ignacio. In fact, Ignacio introduced us. That should have been an immediate red flag when it came to Juan.. How come I could see through Ignacio so easily, probably due to all that nonverbal communication that Diego had talked about, yet when it came to my own situations I wasn't as adept?

"Then who? Because it's not like you have so many options around here. Well, not unless you want to date a younger guy. That's not like you, though, so let's see. . .Makoto is out because he is definitely taken. Akito is. . .Well lets just not go there, I'll spare you that pain. There's Jackson, but Jackson is your cousin."

I flinched at that and I couldn't stop the words from coming out my mouth. "He's not my cousin. I mean, not really." I dared to meet Colby's eyes and immediately regretted it. More words started spewing out. "His mom and my dad are. . .uh. . .they're _like_ siblings, but they're not related by blood. Or legally, for that matter. So you know, he's always been more of my cousin in, umm, spirit. Not biologically or legally or anything that truly makes the word applicable and. . ." I trailed off, wanting to bang my head repeatedly against one of the wooden walls.

"Jackson?" she said with disbelief. " _Jackson_?! The reason you aren't 'that single' is because you're seeing _Jackson_?"

"I-I'm not seeing him! I mean, I don't think I am. I don't really know what I'm doing and _would you stop looking at me that way_?!

"Jackson?" she asked again kind of dumbly.

I let out a sigh and rubbed at my forehead. I could feel a headache coming on and I blamed it on her. "Yes."

Colby rushed at me then and grabbed onto my upper arms, shaking me lightly. "How? When? What?!"

My dear, beloved little brother's face flashed through my mind then. Was this how Oliver felt whenever I decided to harass him? I felt a twinge of sympathy and decided to dial down on my sisterly teasing. Being on the receiving end of all that nosy kind of sucked.

"Col, you're going to leave bruises if you squeeze my arms any tighter." I leveled a look at her and watched as she took a step back, lowering her hands. I did a shooing motion until she took another step back. Satisfied with the safe distance between us, I started to talk. "We were hanging out at the flowerbed by the cafe when Jackson suggested we go on a date. Then he ran off before I could say anything more about it and I was going to tell him no when I saw him again but then. . .Remember how I told you I got into that little disagreement with Courtney during the Fireworks Festival?" Colby nodded, wisely keeping her mouth shut for the time being. "Well, Jackson was the one who showed up and pulled me out of there. So I was standing there with him when I saw that kiss between Akito and Courtney and. . .I don't know. Going out with Jackson suddenly didn't seem like such a bad idea after all."

"So this is about distracting yourself from Akito?" she finally spoke.

"No. Yes. _No_. I mean, that might have been the reason at first, but. . .I don't know. I've been out with Jackson twice now and. . .When I'm with him I'm not thinking about Akito. It's not that he's distracting me from thinking about Akito, no. I genuinely enjoy myself when I'm with him and Akito ends up not being on my mind as much. Does that make any sense?"

Colby sucked on her bottom lip before she said "It makes sense. When you're with Jackson, your mind is present there with Jackson and it has nothing to do with Akito."

"Yeah, more or less."

"You've been out with him twice? Violet, why didn't you tell me all of this sooner? I need details, woman, details!" She looked like she was thinking about shaking me some more so I put my hands up between us defensively.

"You'll get your details," I spoke as I went over to where some wooden crates were stacked. I sat down on one and Colby sat on the one next to mine. With a sigh, I looked over at her and asked "Is this weird, Colby? I mean, whatever is going on with me and Jackson?"

Colby seemed to give it a great deal of thought, if the five minutes it took her to answer was any kind of indication. I felt nervous as she sat there deliberating. When I thought that I wasn't going to be able to take her silence any longer, that's when she finally started speaking. "It is weird." I felt something sink in my stomach before she continued on. "It's only a _little_ weird, though. You're right, Violet. You two really aren't related. There's nothing that technically makes you two being together wrong, okay? So if you're feeling guilty or awkward about this then don't." She squeezed my shoulders in an encouraging way. "Everybody knows you two aren't actually related. It's not incestuous."

"Thanks, Col. I really wish I'd told you sooner because I've been having a hard time sorting through all of this stuff on my own."

"Just doing my job as your best friend," she told me with the warm smile she inherited from her father. "Now, about those details you promised me."

So I sat there with Colby and gave her all of the details I had to offer. Once I had finally poured my guts out to her, she decided I would be allowed to leave the barn in one piece. As we pushed open the doors, Colby nudged my arm.

"What's up?" I shot her a questioning glance.

"Shh. Look over there," she replied as she pointed.

I followed her gaze and saw, much to my chagrin, Akito leaving his mother's shop with Courtney glued to his arm, probably heading back to Konohana. I wrinkled my nose. I was surprised she hadn't cut the circulation to that arm off considering it looked like she had a vice grip on it. The two of them stopped walking and stood in front of the shop chatting. Akito didn't look too happy about something Courtney was saying.

"Thanks, Colby. That's exactly what I needed to see," I said sarcastically as I started to leave the barn.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me back inside. There was a glint in her eyes that told me she was definitely up to something. "Watch."

"Colby, what are you doing?"

"Watch," she said again before she put her hands around her mouth in a way meant to amplify sound. What Colby did next was certainly something I hadn't expected. She started barking as gruffly and as loudly as she could. It was freaky. She really sounded like a large dog out on the attack!

What happened next was nothing short of comical. Courtney let out a terrified shriek and took off running. She was momentarily blocked from our view by Colby's house, but when we saw her again I noticed a heel had snapped off her shoe so her gait was rather awkward. I guess running away from my house earlier had weakened said heel and her running now had snapped it. Akito stood where he was for a moment with a shocked look on his face. He turned his head in the direction of the barn and we ducked back further inside so he couldn't see us. Only after he took off after Courtney did we feel the coast was clear.

"Colby!" I said as I swatted at her arm playfully. "I can't believe you did that!"

"Oh I did it. I did it and it felt good," she told me as she raised her arms and joined her hands together behind her neck. "I don't think she'll find dating a guy who runs a shop full of dogs that fun for the time being."

The two of us erupted into a series of giggles that turned into full-blown laughter. I laughed so hard that my stomach started hurting and I hunched over with my hands on my knees.

When I was finally able to pull myself together enough to speak again I said "I love you."

Colby just grinned at me and said. "I know. I love you, too."


	17. Suspicious Excitement

It was about eleven at night and I was still up. Why was I still up? I knew I had to be up early in the morning, yet there I was sitting on my bed sketching something. It wasn't my most creative time of the day, granted, but when inspiration hits you've got to strike while the iron is hot. The sketchbook was in my lap and I had an assortment of pencils spread out in front of me.

The last thing I expected was to hear a noise at my window. I stopped what I was doing and turned my head with a quizzical brow. When I didn't hear anything else, I returned to my sketch. All of a sudden, though, I heard something again. Something was hitting my window. I sat my art stuff aside and threw my legs over the side of the bed.

Drawing the curtains aside, I didn't see anything out there in the darkness. I almost turned away, but then I heard the sound of something hitting the window again. Opening the window up, I stuck my head out and my face literally came within an inch of Jackson's. My automatic reaction was to scream from surprise, but he anticipated that and clamped a hand over my mouth to stop that from happening. His other hand, I noticed, held about three pebbles in it. ' _So that's what was hitting my window_.'

Seeing that I wasn't about to scream after all, Jackson removed his hand from my mouth and gave me a broad smile. "Hey."

"Hey?"

"Yeah. Hey," he repeated as he dropped the remaining pebbles to the ground. I saw him glance over at the glass of my window to make sure he hadn't cracked it. Eileen would've had a conniption if he'd managed to do that and we both knew it.

Pulling my face back to a more respectable distance, I said "You're such a night owl. What are you doing over here at this time of night?"

"Well," he drawled. He was using such a leisurely tone, as if he had all the time in the world. "I felt like seeing you so I headed on over. I saw your light was still on so here I am."

"You're lucky the dogs didn't wake up and start barking at you. The whole farm would've been on to you then." The thought of dogs brought both incidents with Courtney to mind and I almost laughed out loud. I didn't know who was more awesome, Rufus or Colby.

"They still could wake up," he pointed out as he dusted his hands off on his jeans. "Which means you should probably let me in before they do."

I did let out a little laugh then and crossed my arms over my chest. "Is that your not-so-subtle way of trying to gain access to my bedroom?" As soon as those words left my lips, my mind went somewhere else entirely. If Jackson was my. . .I don't know what he was. If he was whatever he was to me now instead of my cousin, then wouldn't that make him being in my room have an entirely different meaning than it use to?

Jackson rubbed at the back of his head and gave me a confident smirk. "It is. So what do you say? Can I come in?"

There was suddenly a fluttery feeling in my stomach. I was nervous. Jackson hadn't been in my room since we were like. . .ten. My father had effectively barred him from entering it one day when he'd come over to play. Looking at Jackson now, he certainly didn't look like a ten year old boy anymore. ' _Yeah, that's sure not helping my stomach._ ' I had to decide what to do, though, because I was letting all that cool air in having the window open as it was. "Hurry up. Get in here."

As soon as I stepped back from the window, Jackson hauled himself up and the next thing I knew his feet were hitting the floor. He moved out of the way and watched me as I shut the window. I shivered a little and was about to rub my arms when he stepped forward and started rubbing them for me. I stood there, kind of paralyzed and not sure what to do. My heart rate picked up as his hands moved up and down my arms and they heated up a heck of a lot sooner than they would've if I'd been rubbing them. I was pretty sure that them heating up so quickly had nothing to do with the fact that they were being rubbed and everything to do with who was rubbing them.

I swallowed past the lump that was forming in my throat and took a step back. "Thanks. I'm, uh, they're warm now."

Jackson smiled at me, looking the picture of ease. Either he had absolutely no idea what that had done to me or he knew and he was playing it cool. I never would have pegged Jackson for a smooth operator before, but I was starting to wonder about him.

"I'm glad you're all better," he said as he moved away from the window and started walking around the room. "I wish I could have visited you while you were sick."

I laughed at that and said "You're better off not having that image of me seared into the back of your eyelids. I looked rough there for a while."

Jackson merely shook his head and looked at me over his shoulder. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

He turned back around before he could see my cheeks go pink and for that I was grateful. I cleared my throat and asked "So really, Jack, what brings you over here this time of night? There had to be something on your mind."

"You caught me." Jackson sat down in the same chair Courtney had occupied before. "I wanted to let you know that I have a surprise for you."

"For me? What is it?" He certainly had my attention now.

Soft laughter met my ears as one side of his lips quirked up, bringing my attention to that dimple. "If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore." He wagged his finger at me in mock disapproval. "Just know that I've been working hard on this and you'll see soon enough."

I sat down on my bed and started collecting all my art supplies so I could get them put up. It really was getting late and I knew if I didn't lay down soon then I was not going to be a happy camper come six in the morning. The picture would have to wait until some other time to get finished.

Jackson hopped up and sat down on my bed. I was too busy collecting my supplies to watch this happen. Instead, I heard him when he stood and I felt the dip on my bed as he sat down on it. When I finally looked up I came to the realization that he was much closer to me then I was expecting. There was a foot at most between us. Twelve inches. The distance somehow felt even shorter than that when I saw the way he was staring down at me.

"Jack, what. . .?"

He silenced me with a finger against my lips. "I had another reason for coming here tonight."

My mouth suddenly felt very, very dry. "W-What's that?"

Jackson started closing the gap between us and my heart rate picked up. I mean, my heart was suddenly beating a mile a minute. I looked down at Jackson's lips and then back up at his eyes. Those eyes were studying me and I wasn't sure what he was looking for. My eyes drifted closed of their own accord and it was so quiet in the room that I was sure I could hear those aforementioned racing heartbeats of mine hammering away against my chest. The scent of freshly cut grass was all around me, the scent of Jackson. I was so close to him, close in a more intimate way than I had ever been before, and for some inexplicable reason I started thinking about Akito. I remembered the incident in the library when I fell on him. I'd been close to him then, too, closer than I was to Jackson now. I remembered thinking that it would've been so easy to close that gap between us and. . .My brow furrowed. What the heck was I doing thinking about Akito at a time like this?

I felt Jackson's soft exhale, so close that it hit my lips. It was almost as if he were sighing, though I didn't know why. "The reason," he spoke quietly, suddenly reminding me that we'd been talking about something right before this. It took a few seconds for my brain to remember what we'd been talking about. "Was to let you know that some things are definitely worth waiting for, Violet, and I am a patient man."

Those words tugged at my heart in a way I hadn't thought possible. When I felt a sudden shifting on the bed I realized Jackson had stood up. By the time I opened my eyes, though, my window was open and Jackson was gone. Just like that, he'd disappeared on me again while my eyes were closed. How come he was so fast and quiet? He was stealthy like a ninja! Even though he had left my room, though, he did not leave my thoughts. Sleep did not come easily to me that night, thanks to good ole Jack.

The next day was the day of the Music Festival. Every year, the two villages alternated as the host of the festival. This time it was Konohana's turn. Jackson was absolutely brimming with excitement when I saw him that morning. In fact, he was up earlier than usual and swore up and down to me that he actually did go to sleep after he left my room the previous night. I wasn't sure if I believed that since he was so uppity that it seemed like he was pumped full of a whole lot of caffeine.

"It's going to be a great day, Violet," he said as he followed me like a puppy down the row of crops I was busy watering.

"I'm sure it will be, Jackson," I said as I divided my attention between him and the plant I was currently tending to. I was finding it hard to pay him any amount of attention without thinking about what had happened between us the night before. I was sure that he'd come very close to kissing me and yet he'd pulled away at the last second and then disappeared altogether. I honestly wasn't sure how I felt about that.

"No, Vi, no. You don't get it. It's going to be great."

I stopped what I was doing and stared at him for a minute. He was practically bouncing back and forth on his feet. "What are you up to, Jackson?" I questioned, suddenly becoming suspicious of him.

"Nothing," he said with his most winning smile before he turned around and headed back the way he'd come from.

"You're such a tease," I called after him as he retreated. The cool breeze blew the sound of his laughter to my ears. As I watched him go, I couldn't help but smile myself. His smile was infectious and I had to admit that it was rather cute.

My mom wasn't within earshot, but she was close enough to where I was that I saw her standing there with a thoughtful look on her face and I knew at that moment that she knew something was up. It suddenly became apparent to me that I was going to have to let my parents know soon that something was going on between me and Jackson. I wasn't the least bit worried about my mother having a problem with it. My father was the parent who was going to have some choice words to say. I was a grown woman and if I chose to be with Jackson then that was nobody's decision to make but mine. In the end, if my father had any objections then he really didn't have the power to stop me. Still, though, a part of me was always going to be that little girl who wanted his approval. And his opinions always had and always would mean a great deal to me. Therefore, I was extremely nervous about coming clean with my father. In fact, the mere thought of it made my stomach feel so sour that I wondered if I was about to throw up.

' _He's not my cousin_ ,' I thought, this time with much more confidence than I had been feeling on the matter.

With a disgruntled sigh, I went about finishing up the work I was doing. By the time I started getting ready for the festival, somebody made their usual appearance in my bedroom. Colby really had impeccable timing. Somehow she _always_ knew exactly when I was in the process of getting ready. Once we made it through the tunnel, we found Keiko and Willow waiting for us.

I looped my arm through Colby's and she looped her other arm through Willow's and Willow looped her arm through Keiko's. So the four of us were all walking side by side down the road, which wasn't wide enough to accommodate our little procession so two of us were walking on the grass.

"Keiko, where's Makoto?" Colby asked curiously as we strolled along.

Now that she mentioned Makoto, I noticed that he was nowhere to be seen. That was highly unusual. It's not that Makoto and Keiko were _always_ together but they were usually together and certainly always together when it came to a festival day.

Keiko frowned and said "I don't know, actually. He came to the shop about an hour ago and told me that he would meet me at the festival. He's been very mysterious lately."

I let out a little snort and Keiko stared over at me with a questioning look. "What? 'Mysterious' is kind of Makoto's middle name. Well, to everybody but you," I amended.

"How about you, Willow? Where is Zhen?"

"Don't mention his name," she said emphatically, effectively making Colby go hush-mouthed from surprise.

The three of us stopped walking then and when Willow kept walking with her arms captured on both sides, she got effectively snapped back. She stumbled a little, but she certainly wasn't about to fall considering she was being held as she was.

We surrounded her, kind of like a circle of bullies about to steal her lunch money, and had her right in the middle. Even Keiko, who wasn't particularly nosy. Really, this was rather uncharacteristic for her, yet an interesting switch up. "Willow, dear, would you care to elaborate?" I asked.

It really wasn't fair considering Willow was the shortest, smallest, and youngest out of all of us. I can't say I felt particularly bad about it considering the scathing interrogation she gave me when she found out about the whole Jackson situation. Really, the reason I'd dragged telling my friends out so long was because I knew how Colby and Willow were going to react. Well, I couldn't anticipate that Colby was going to corner me in a barn and manhandle me, but. . .I gave many thanks to the Harvest Goddess that I hadn't had to deal with Colby and Willow at the same time because individually they were something. Together they would've been something else.

Willow huffed a little as she put her hands on her hips defiantly within the confines of the circle. "No, I don't particularly care to."

We stared down at her for about ten seconds before we continued down the road without her. "Okay. We will respect your wishes for privacy," Colby threw out behind us.

Willow stayed right where she was before hurrying after us shaking her fists in the air. "Hey, hey! Don't you three walk away from me." I could hear the pout in her voice.

The three of us turned around in unison. Really, it was like we were perfectly synchronized. It reminded me of that time right before the Hand Fishing contest when Jackson's family had turned to look at me in perfect unison when I'd gone to Town Hall to let Mikhail know I was participating. Willow ended up bumping into Keiko, who promptly reverted back to her usual self and started babying Willow with all the warmth and concern one would expect from her. Apparently this was the right thing to do because the rest of the way to the town hall was spent with Willow giving us the details of how she'd managed to take two steps forward with Zhen before he pulled about ten steps back. One of the reasons he'd cited was their age difference. That had always been a concern to me because I didn't want Willow to get hurt if Zhen ultimately couldn't decide that age was just a number to him. The strange thing was that I didn't doubt that Willow's feelings were reciprocated. Zhen really just needed to get out of his own way. And who in the world was I thinking that I had any real idea about anything involving relationships considering my own situation?!

Zhen had already arrived by the time we made it to Town Hall and for Willow's sake, we went to the opposite side of the room. Poor Willow looked like she wanted to stay way from him yet go to his side at the same time. I knew how it felt to be so conflicted considering I'd definitely felt that way before. Glancing around the room, I noticed that I couldn't find three men in particular anywhere. Makoto wasn't the only one who was missing. Akito and Jackson were conspicuously absent as well.

"What's that?" Keiko asked, pointing at a strange partition on the stage. Most of the stage was blocked off by it and there was no seeing around it.

"I. . .don't know," Willow said hesitantly. She was somehow managing to simultaneously look at the stage _and_ Zhen and that should not have been physically possible.

Aside from the strange absence of that particular triad, it seemed that everybody from the two towns had showed up. Well, with the exception of Cheryl and Phillip. Their children were present, being minded by Jessica. Cheryl was at the point in her pregnancy where Hiro would absolutely not bend anymore and she'd been confined to bed rest.

I crossed the room when I saw Yun. I was honestly surprised to see that she'd come to the festival considering she had trouble getting around these days and hadn't been feeling too well lately. I didn't want her to overdo it. When I voiced my concerns, she silenced me with a dumpling she had brought along and that shut me up. No offense to Ying, but Yun's dumplings were the absolute best. I came to the conclusion that if Yun was still well enough to make dumplings then she was well enough to attend the festival. Of course, the fact that she gave me a second dumpling probably influenced that thought.

Yun was awfully close to Zhen, so that took me into enemy territory. That might be why I felt like holes were being stared into my back. Perhaps Willow had acquired laser beams in her eyes during my years away from home. I was on my way back over to my girls when I was stopped by Alan of all people.

"V," he intoned, speaking the nickname he'd somehow decided to dub me with.

I didn't like it and I wrinkled my nose a little in distaste. Still, though, I was determined to remain polite with Alan so I smiled nicely and said "Hello, Alan. Are you excited about the festival?"

"I think I'm more excited to see you," he informed me as he stepped a little closer. I took a couple of steps back.

"That's, uh, lovely. It was nice to see you, too, but I have somewhere to be."

"I was wondering," he continued, seemingly undeterred. "if you'd like to dance with me once the music starts."

My eyebrows tried hard to knit themselves together as I frowned. "Alan, you do know that people don't typically dance at this festival, right? It's more about appreciating the music and. . ."

"Shh, girl. It's okay if you can't dance. I've got enough moves for the both of us," he said assuredly.

"Why don't you," I started as I glanced around the crowd trying to find one face in particular. "Why don't you ask Serena to dance?"

I pointed at Willow's younger sister who was watching Alan with an expression that was as smooth as glass. Willow had told me that Serena liked to dabble in fortune telling. Not only had Serena backed Willow up and said that she belonged with Zhen, but she'd also ascertained from her cards that Alan was her soul mate. I wasn't sure if her cards were accurate, but she seemed confident enough to watch Alan flirt with other women and not be concerned in the least about it.

While Alan was distracted by looking at Serena, I made my getaway and ended up nearly running right into my godmother who was like an aunt to me who was also Jackson's mother. Laney gave me a kiss on each cheek and enthused "It's going to be a great day!"

Her green eyes twinkled like Jackson's and I felt like there was something I wasn't in on that she was. "You know, I think Jackson said those exact words to me earlier. What's going on?"

The suspicious look I was giving her only seemed to bring her more delight. Before she could say anything, though, everybody suddenly got quiet. I looked toward the stage and saw that Rahi was making his way up there. He came to a stop in front of that mysterious partition and turned around to face the crowd.

"Looks like I have to go. Have fun, okay?" Laney said with a pat of my shoulder as she made her way to the front of the crowd closest to the stage where Mikhail was standing.

' _That was weird_ ,' I thought.

Colby, Willow, and Keiko finally got tired of waiting for me to get back over there and came to me instead.

"It's starting," Keiko said.

"Come on," Colby said as she followed the same path as Laney. "Let's get a little closer."

"Was Alan hitting on you again?" Willow questioned with amusement, causing my clumsy self to stumble a little.

I put a finger to my lips to tell her to hush up because not only did I not feel like talking about Alan, but the Music Festival was also about to begin.


	18. The Music Festival Performances

**Author's Note:** I'm back! Sorry it took so long for me to update. I was busy, but now I'm less busy and free to send a chapter your way.

* * *

"Welcome everybody to the annual Fall Music Festival. As you know, each year this festival is held so that everybody can relax and appreciate the beauty of music. This year, Konohana has the pleasure of hosting the festival and I would like to extend a warm welcome to our Bluebell friends." Rahi paused and everybody started clapping then. When the applause died down, he continued on. "The festival is going to be extra special this year and I must say I am very much looking forward this. As you all know, our true master of ceremonies for this festival is the talented violinist, Mikhail. At this time, I would like to invite my fellow mayor up to the stage."

Everybody started clapping again when Rahi's speech was over. Rahi shook Mikhail's hand when Mikhail made it up to the stage and then stepped down to take his place next to Ying. When it quieted back down, Mikhail cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone. "Good afternoon everybody. I'd like to thank Rahi and all of Konohana for hosting this year's festival. Today I am going to play you a selection of songs I've chosen especially for this event. This year, I am lucky enough to have a little assistance from somebody special. Jackson?"

Everybody watched as Jackson hopped off the stage from behind the partition and came to a stop next to the piano. The applause started up again, making Jackson light up. With a self-assured smile, he gave the audience a jaunty wave and a little bow. Well, that explained where Jackson had been, but Akito and Makoto were still missing.

"I am proud to announce that my son will be our pianist today," Mikhail continued. "So without further ado, we will play for you. Please listen and enjoy!"

I saw Laney step forward with his violin and hand it to him. After a few moments, he gave Jackson the cue and they started playing. I rested my head on Keiko's shoulder as I listened to the music. Father and son were working together perfectly like a well-oiled machine, making such lovely music that I let out a happy little sigh. Jackson looked so at peace as his hands moved gracefully over the keys of the piano. Without missing a beat, he looked over and located me in the crowd. He smiled at me with a twinkle in his eyes and I felt a flutter in my stomach.

I felt so content listening to the music that I almost didn't even notice when I saw Courtney move into my line of sight. She was to the left of me with her arms crossed over her chest, looking rather dejected. When she glanced over and saw me, she gave me a look that I can only describe as being sour. Well, I guess without Akito being around to see her she had less incentive to keep that nice charade up, even in public. Keiko noticed where I was looking, so she tapped Willow 's arm and Willow elbowed Colby. All four of us looked over at Courtney and her eyes flitted from one to the other before she looked a little embarrassed and decided to move her eyes elsewhere.

"I love you three," I mumbled just loud enough to be heard over the music.

Glancing over at Jackson again, I let myself get lost in the music as I watched him. There was something poetic and expressive about Jackson, something that leaked out from the depths of his soul. It was something I liked. When they were done, Jackson stepped away from the piano and joined his father on the stage. Applause broke out and they both gave a bow. Everybody started talking amongst themselves about how wonderful the music had been. I was just thinking about going over and personally complimenting Jackson when Keiko let out a dissatisfied sigh.

I lifted my head from her shoulder. "What's up?"

She frowned and looked around before she responded. "Makoto still isn't here. I'm actually starting to get worried, Violet."

"Akito's missing, too, unless little miss sunshine over there is flying solo. I could go interrogate Jackson," Colby offered.

"What is he, a suspect?" Willow chimed in.

"You guys wait here and I'll go ask him," I told them as I started forward.

I looked up and saw Jackson looking at me from up on the stage. At some point, Mikhail had stepped down and Jackson stayed behind. When we made eye contact, he gave me a mischievous smile and a little wink. I stared at him questioningly as he held a hand up. I watched as Jackson unbuttoned his shirt, one button at a time, and then slid it off his shoulders. He then balled it up and threw it into the crowd, directly at me. I caught it easily and looked at the shirt he'd been wearing underneath the warm one I was holding. One of my hands flew up to cover my mouth. I recognized that shirt! I looked back at my friends and saw them on their way through the crowd. They stopped right behind me.

"Violet, is that. . .?" Colby asked.

"It is. That's the t-shirt I made for the guys back when they were a band!"

I certainly could never forget that shirt. The boys could never, _ever_ decide on a band name so when they decided they wanted me to design a shirt for them, I thought they were crazy. I asked them why I should bother when the next week they would be calling themselves something else. I ultimately decided to design a shirt with a filmstrip on the front. Inside the three rectangles, there was a picture of each of them. Under the film, under each guy's picture, was a J, A, and a M. I was dabbling in printmaking at the time so I had them each provide me with a t shirt and I printed them up.

"Oh my Goddess," I mumbled, tying the grass scented shirt around my waist for safekeeping.

"If I can have your attention, everybody," Jackson said into the microphone. The room fell into silence and even though I wasn't the only person paying complete attention to Jackson, I could see that the only person he was paying complete attention to was _me_. I felt strangely empowered, somehow. "The Music Festival isn't quite over yet. You see, I had a conversation with somebody not too long ago. She made the interesting suggestion that Akito, Makoto, and myself get our old band back together and perform here at the festival."

I gasped then. He was right. He was totally right! I remembered sitting in the cafe with him one day in spring while I drank a honey shake and I'd made the suggestion then. I'd forgotten all about it until that very moment. Then I felt kind of silly for not putting two and two together before. And then it hit me. This was the surprise Jackson had been talking about the previous night, why he'd been so hyper that morning. I watched as Akito and Makoto appeared on either side of that partition and pushed it together until it folded into one rectangle. They then carried it off the stage and propped it up against the back wall. Behind that partition, all of their instruments from back in the day had been brought out of storage and set up. The whole time we were wondering where in the world those guys were, they'd been sitting right back there. Keiko's eyes were following Makoto's every movement, looking both relieved and excited.

"Thank you, Violet, for the great idea," Jackson said as the other two hurried back up on the stage. Everybody was suddenly looking at me and I felt like I was in a fish bowl, swimming around plastic coral reefs with a host of humans peering down at me. At the same time, though, I felt rather flattered that he was giving me this kind of credit. "So if you will all stick around and allow us, we would like to perform for you today." Everybody started clapping their approval and there were cheers, especially from the younger crowd. The cheers were especially loud from me, Keiko, Colby, and Willow. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the reunion performance of. . ." he trailed off, trying to think of a name. Jackson looked at me as if he were asking me to think of something for him.

' _Umm_. . .' I thought, trying to come up with something.

The longer he stood there with nothing to say, the more awkward it was getting so as a last resort I quickly pointed to his shirt. He looked down and looked at me mouthing "Huh?" I pointed again and I could see an imaginary light bulb blink above his head. "The reunion performance of J.A.M, otherwise known as Jam!" That was, quite possibly, the least weird name they had ever used. I was surprised he didn't throw strawberry in front of jam and go with a name like that.

Akito was already sitting behind his drums and my heart kind of flipped over when I saw him. Jackson grabbed his guitar and took his position while Makoto stepped up to the microphone with a sullen look on his face. I laughed because that was just such a Makoto expression for him to be making. When he looked up and locked eyes with Keiko, though, we were all graced with one of his rare smiles even though it was only meant for her.

Then they launched into a song, one that immediately made me feel all kinds of nostalgic because it was one from when we were teenagers. Zhen wove his way through the crowd and tapped Willow on her shoulder. He looked down at her with those ice blue eyes and that infamous five o'clock shadow and I could tell that immediately she was done being mad. He led her away and they started dancing. So much for that age difference problem.

Other people started pairing off and dancing. I glanced over the crowd and made sure that Alan was otherwise engaged so that he would not be tempted to accost me again. He was indeed otherwise engaged, thanks to Serena. I let out a sigh of relief as I went over to the piano Jackson had played and leaned against it. My attention was trained on those up on that stage.

My eyes wandered over to Akito. He was bulkier now than he'd been as a teenager when I'd printed that shirt for him. It stretched kind of tight over his chest and I had to admit he was looking good. His arms looked powerful as he created the beat with the drumsticks. He'd held all of my weight in one arm before so I knew firsthand just how strong he was. Long strands of hair had escaped his ponytail and were falling forward, mixing with his bangs and framing his face.

Boom clap.

I could feel it happening again. This was one of those times when looking at Akito was painful. So, so painful Sometimes it felt like a vacuum had stolen all the air from my lungs and a boxer had punched me in the stomach. I had to look away. I. . .I had to look away. I aimed my focus over at Jackson instead. His eyes were glowing like a green traffic light, they were so bright as he played that guitar. They met mine and he smiled for me, that dimple of his that I adored making an appearance. I felt light and fluttery as he maintained that eye contact, somehow focusing on me and his guitar at the same time. The look he was giving me was kind of shocking with its intensity. He had a different energy about him while he played his guitar this time around, an energy that was completely different from the one he'd had while we were on our first date. I liked it, that energy. I liked it.

' _He's not my cousin_ ,' I thought then, feeling as if I was suddenly coming to an important decision at that moment. If he wasn't my cousin then what in the world was he? Should I consider him my boyfriend? Did he consider me his girlfriend? What was Jackson expecting from me and when? He'd basically told me he'd wait for me when he almost kissed me in my room. Honestly, I hadn't been ready to kiss him then and I got the distinct impression he was leaving the ball in my court, waiting for me to decide when I would be ready. Was I ready to kiss him now? No, no I wasn't quite there yet. I had only just then at that very moment started to make peace with not seeing him as my cousin after all those years of having that drilled into my head. It would take some more time before I was ready to take that step with him. I did feel, though, that there would be a time in the not-so-distant future when I would be ready.

I grinned up at Jackson, giving him two thumbs up in approval and encouragement. That dimple in his cheek deepened a little more and I thought that maybe it was time I truly open up to whatever it was we had between us. And to do that, I had to do something I'd been dreading. I had to fess up and bring my family out of the dark. I would do it, though. I would. If whatever I had going on with Jackson was going to work then I couldn't hide it anymore. Hiding it wouldn't be fair to either of us.

When the music was over and the applause came, Jackson took himself a bow that was so low that I thought the man was about to kiss the floor. Akito just shook his head at him with a lopsided grin, twirling his drumsticks around his fingers with absolute skill. Makoto spared him about half of a glance before he strolled right off the stage and swept Keiko up into his arms. I found the strength to resist watching Akito as he got up and left the stage. I even ignored his presence in my peripheral vision as his family surrounded him and Courtney started draping herself over him. Well, if I was that observant then I wasn't ignoring him as much as I thought I was. Still, though, I didn't turn my head and look.

Instead, I kept my eyes up on the stage as Jackson's family gave him their compliments. Mikhail put a proud hand on Jackson's shoulder. Laney gave him a hug. Howard gave him an even more enthusiastic hug. Lauren looked up at him with what can only be described as hero worship, the kind Oliver gave me when he was about that age. I stayed there leaning against the piano, trying to look like I wasn't watching when I really was. Finally, his family left the stage and went to meet up with my family and that left Jackson standing there looking at me and me looking at him.

Jackson ignored the stair altogether and just jumped straight down. Landing on his feet with the dexterity of a cat, he walked over to the piano and stopped directly in front of me. "Hey."

"Hey," I replied. I tugged on the bottom of his shirt as I said "This looks kind of familiar."

"Does it now?" he asked, stepping a little closer even though I hadn't pulled him forward with my tugging.

"I can't believe all three of you guys still have these!" I gushed, looking at the shirt fondly while I tried not to let his proximity unnerve me. I looked up at Jackson and said "I loved the surprise. You guys rocked up there! I felt like I was a teenager again with all of that nostalgia going on. Oh man, that was so much fun to watch. You were right. It's been a great day." I was smiling from ear to ear because it really had been great, every bit as great as I'd thought it would be when the idea first came to me. Those three did not disappoint.

That dimple made another appearance as he said "I'm glad. That makes all of the secret planning and practicing worthwhile. It felt so good being up there with the guys again. All of the bands I've played in and there's just nothing else quite like getting to jam with my boys. You know it never would've happened without you, though. You were the true brains and beauty behind this operation."

"You know, flattery will get you," I began."

"Everywhere," he finished for me happily. "You've said that to me before and I didn't forget."

My breath caught in my throat for a second before I found one of Jackson's hands and captured it in both of mine. He seemed surprised, but he recovered quickly enough. "I was thinking about what you said, Jack. You know, about how you're patient and all. If you're still willing to wait on me then I'd like it if you would. I promise I won't keep you waiting too long, just. . .I don't know, bear with me for a little while, okay?"

He was quiet and his silence was unnerving me far more than his proximity. Just when I thought I wasn't going to be able to stand the silence anymore, he spoke. "Do you mean that, Violet?"

He was looking at me as if he were attempting to read my mind like the pages of a book that was written in a different language. He was confused, but also fascinated. I took a deep breath before I said "I do."

Before I knew it, Jackson had wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. He was squeezing me firmly, yet the embrace was gentle at the same time. He smelled like summer to me and he felt so warm, like my own personal space heater. I closed my eyes as I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed, too.

"Take however much time you need," he said, his voice kind of muffled by my hair. "I'm not going anywhere."

As I opened my eyes I became aware of one thing. Akito was standing there to the left of us and he was looking directly at me. The second my eyes landed on him, eye contact was established. I stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, not for the first time, those yellow beacons flashing at me. There was something there in Akito's gaze, something I didn't understand yet I desperately wanted to. Before I could even begin to decipher it, though, he broke our eye contact. His head tilted to the side as if he'd heard somebody calling for him and then he walked in the opposite direction.

I felt sad then, so sad. As I squeezed Jackson a little tighter in response to that sadness, I felt the weight that had suddenly formed in my chest lessen just a little. When I pulled back from the hug, I leaned against the piano again and realized there was something I should let Jackson know. "Just so you know, I'm going to tell my family."

"Tell them what?"

"About you. Me. _Us_."

"So there _is_ an us? Thank goodness, because I was starting to think that I was going crazy. I thought maybe an alien beamed down from somewhere around Cassiopeia and made me delusional."

"Hush, you," I said, smacking his arm. "This is going to be weird, okay? It's going to be uncomfortable and I'm nervous as all get-out. My dad is going to freak!"

"Shh. It's going to be okay, Violet. We'll make it be okay. Alright?"

His confidence bolstered mine and strengthened my resolve. I took two deep breaths before I said "Okay. I can do this. It'll be okay."

The confidence I'd felt from Jackson's reassurance did not last long. By the time I stood in front of my parents that evening, it was pretty much depleted. Oh, who am I kidding? That confidence was all the way gone. It had started off simple enough. Oliver was hanging out in his bedroom. I was hiding in mine. My parents were spending time together out in the living room. I opened my door quietly and came out. There were on the couch with my mother's legs thrown across my father's lap, eternally happy and in love. I hated the thought of wrecking their peaceful moment and throwing our family into chaos. I'd been dreading this moment ever since that early morning by the flowerbed when Jackson had asked me out. Every moment since then had been leading up to this one and I felt like I might throw up.

I was a grown woman who could date whoever I wanted to. I didn't need anybody's permission to be with Jackson. I really, _really_ didn't. But. . .but. . .UGH. This wasn't just about me and Jackson. This involved our families as well, whether I liked it or not. We were all so intertwined that I felt as if this revelation was going to be the meteor that wiped out all the dinosaurs. And my father. . .I'd spent my life doing my best never to disappoint him and here I was going to do just that.

The lump that had appeared in my throat was going larger and I started to wonder how I was going to speak around it until my mother noticed me standing there and said "Oh, Violet. Was there something you needed, sweetheart?"

"Well, I. . ."

"That was such a wonderful Music Festival, don't you think?" she continued on. "Don't tell Mikhail I said this, but that's probably the most fun it's ever been."

"Yeah, it. . ."

"Jackson seemed to be having a great time up there," my father spoke quietly. I just about jumped out of my skin as he turned those emerald eyes upon me. They were like laser beams at the moment.

I started to sweat a little. "H-He did, didn't he? Jack, he. . .Uh, you know, he really loves his music."

"Violet, I was wondering something. I've been wondering it for a while, actually. Perhaps you could help me out here and answer a question for me."

"Sure, dad. A-Ask away," I stuttered.

My mother moved her legs so my father could stand up. As he did so, he grabbed his hat off the coffee table and put it back on his head. He turned around to face me and put his hands in his pockets so casually and calmly that I couldn't have anticipated the words that were about to come out of his mouth. "When were you going to tell us that you have something going on with Jackson?"


	19. Is This Really Happening?

**Author's Note:** I almost forgot to update today! I started reading a book and hours later I emerged from those pages remembering I had something important to do. Rather than holding off until tomorrow, I'm sending the chapter your way right now.

* * *

My eyes, I kid you not, grew about three sizes in that moment. I imagine they looked like they were about to pop out of my head. I backed up a couple of steps and wrapped my arms around myself kind of defensively. That's funny considering I'd never in my life felt the need to defend myself against my father of all people. I swallowed, hard, and said "Uh, what do you mean?"

One of his eyebrows disappeared under that hat before it came back down and his eyes narrowed a little as he scrutinized me. My mother shot up off the couch so fast it was like she was twenty years younger for a second. She stopped when she made it to my father's side.

"Tell me I did not just hear that."

With a groan, I looked over my shoulder and saw Oliver standing in the doorway of his room. He then shut his door and leaned against the wall with a look so similar to my father's that I wondered briefly if I was going to faint. My heart was pounding in my chest. My hands felt clammy. There suddenly wasn't enough air in the room. I was surrounded on all sides, yet I wasn't as surrounded as Willow had been in that circle. This was karma. It was divine retribution. I was going to apologize for my part in that interrogation the very next time I saw her.

"I wasn't born yesterday, Violet," he said as he took a step forward and pinned me on the spot with his stare. It was as if he were daring me to move backward again. I stayed put. "I've been watching you two. Your mother has, too. We were just discussing it right before you came out your room, as a matter of fact."

"Uh. . ."

"Violet, who you see is your business. We were just wondering when you were going to let us know, is all," mom stated with a smile that was quiet like my own.

"What?"

"Yeah," dad said as he took a hand out his pocket and put his arm around my mom's shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. "I mean, we know you're an adult and you need privacy, but you don't have to keep things from us like that."

"What?"

"Violet, did you wash your hair and get water in your ears or something?" Oliver asked with an obscene level of amusement from where he stood.

"D-Dad, how could you _possibly_ be okay with this?"

"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown as he took his other hand out of his pocket and rubbed the back of his head, looking off to the left toward my mother.

"You've spent _years_ telling me repeatedly that Jackson is my cousin. I mean, you were like one step removed from being a drill sergeant, you drilled it into my head so much. How can you be okay with this when it's practically incest!" I was nearly shouting now.

Everybody was silent for about ten seconds before my mother shook her head, gave my dad a scornful look, and said "Cam, do you see what you've done? You've scarred this girl for life!"

"What?" my father said, echoing my earlier questions.

She let go of his arm and started pacing around the room. "Ever since you saw her and Jackson playing in the mud that one day, you started stressing to her that Jackson is her cousin. And this is the result, Cam. Our own daughter was afraid to tell us that she's seeing him."

"You know what happens when people play in the mud, Lily," he said, nervously tugging at his hat when she stopped pacing and looked at him directly.

"They were children, Cam. Children play in the mud together."

"Wait, wait, wait," I said as I uncrossed my arms and pointed from one parent to the other. "What in the world does mud have to do with anything?"

"Yeah," Oliver said as he came further into the room. "What happens when people play in the mud?"

My parents paused for a few seconds, looked at each other, looked at both of us, looked back at each other, and then burst out into laughter. Oliver and I looked at each other wearing matching expressions of confusion.

"Uh, sis, I think they've gone crazy. We'll have to have them committed and you'll have to finish raising me."

"Don't worry, Oliver. I'll take good care of you. Just don't forget you'll have to keep eating your green veggies when mom's in a straightjacket."

Dad crossed the space between them and rested his chin on my mother's head, a smile lighting up his face. "That was a great day."

"What are we missing here?" I asked, no longer feeling scared and now feeling kind of short with them.

"Okay, honey, let me explain," my mother said as they stepped away from each other and she sat on the back of the couch. "Back in the days of old, when your father and I weren't even together yet, I was living in Konohana. Your father came all the way from Bluebell to see me, which was pretty impressive considering the tunnel wasn't fixed yet and he had to come all the way over the mountain."

"It was my day off. I had time to kill," he said simply with a little shrug. "And I missed her. Bluebell wasn't the same without her," he admitted.

"I had been watering some flowers and we were discussing them when Rufus came out of nowhere and tackled me. He was licking me and it tickled and I realized I was all wet and muddy because he'd knocked the watering can out of my hand. And your father started laughing like it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. Really, I'd never heard him laugh like that before. I hadn't known he was even capable of laughing with such abandon. I'd never seen that side of him until then."

"The next thing I knew, she was pulling me down into the mud with her. That started our mud battle. It went flying all around, literally," my dad informed us, looking like he was a million miles away in his mind and was enjoying being there. "After we were cold and muddy, she invited me inside for a cup of tea."

They were both quiet, yet they were communicating with their eyes and I felt the need to remind them that Oliver and I were still in the room because it was like they'd forgotten all about us. "That's a really great story and I do want to hear more about this later, but, uh, what does this have to do with me and Jackson?"

"Oh, that's right," mom said with a sheepish smile. "Well, when you were a little girl Jackson came over to play one day. One of you got a bucket, filled it with water, and threw it all over the driveway. Then you two started having a little mud battle of your own. I thought it was precious. When Cam came home and saw you two, though, he threw a fit! The two of us had a mud battle and ultimately got married. He immediately saw Jackson as a threat he thought would one day steal the heart of his little girl. So after that, he started driving home that Jackson was your cousin in order to keep that line there between the two of you."

Every eye in the room looked at dad and he started tugging at his hat. I could see the darkening of his cheeks despite his efforts. "Well. . ."

"Is that what it's been about this whole time?!" I blew up then, taking a step toward my father. He took a step back in response, nervously clearing his throat.

"Yes," he admitted.

"Dad!" I said exasperatedly. "You've had me obsessing over this, you know. I've been this close to rocking back and forth in a corner from feeling weird about Jackson being my cousin." I took two of my fingers and brought them within half an inch of each other to illustrate my point.

"I told you that you scarred her," my mother said as she poked his arm. "Violet, Jackson is _like_ a cousin to you, but he isn't _really_ your cousin. There's nothing legal or biological there. It's going to take a little adjusting for everybody, but you have nothing to feel guilty about."

I let out a frustrated sigh and massaged my forehead, trying to fend off the headache I felt coming. I seemed to be getting a lot of those lately. "I know that. I mean, in my mind I logically know that." In my heart, though, things still felt kind of weird. I was working past that, though.

When I looked over at Oliver, he put his hands out in front of him and said "Don't look at me. I don't have a problem with it. It's your life, Violet." With that said, he retreated into his room and left me on my own.

"Violet," my father said quietly as he put his hands on my shoulders. "I didn't mean to scar you for life."

"I know, dad. I'll get over it. I'm just glad to know you don't have a problem with Jackson anymore."

"I didn't say that."

"Cam!" my mother exclaimed. "He was joking, Violet. He claims he doesn't know how to make a joke, but you know he does."

I went over to the coat rack and grabbed a jacket. "I'm in dire need of some fresh air. I'm going to go outside for a while and hang out with the alpacas if they're still awake. See you two later."

With that said, I made my escape from the house into the chilly autumn evening. I drew in one cool breath after another and felt like my head was spinning. The earth wasn't shaking. A meteor hadn't struck the planet. That conversation had been so explosive yet anticlimactic at the same time. I felt mentally, emotionally, and physically worn out. At the same time, though. . .

It started out with one little laugh. Before I knew it, I was laughing until my stomach hurt. I just couldn't believe it! All of this had been over playing in the mud with Jackson as a child. Unbelievable. My family didn't have a problem with it and now the only person who still did was me. And I was going to seriously start working on fixing that. Unbelievable. I looked up at the sky on my way to see the alpacas. Venus was up there, staring down at me and shining brightly. Of course, it immediately made me think of Jackson.

"Oh Jack," I said disbelievingly. "What am I gonna do with you?"

Jackson appeared at my window later on that night and got a real kick out of the whole story when I told it to him. I was glad that one of us was able to find the whole thing amusing, at least. Apparently he'd told his family about us as well. While their conversation hadn't been as interesting as the one I'd had with my family, the end result was the same. None of them had a problem with us being together.

I spent my days following the Music Festival with Jackson, considering we'd told our families about us and the news had somehow managed to spread throughout both towns in no time. We took walks throughout town together, holding hands the entire time. We revisited the sight of our first date and spent time talking there. We ate at the cafe, during which time I found out just how approving his family was of our relationship. They were totally gung-ho about it. Even Lauren, who was the exact opposite of Cheryl at that age. She loved her brother, but had no problem sharing him. Howard even insisted that my meal be on the house. The whole time, there was a nagging voice at the back of my mind saying things I didn't really want to hear, but I ignored it and eased into the relationship with Jackson, taking things one day at a time.

It was the day after the Moon Festival. When I looked at the calendar I realized that it was Rahi's birthday and while I hadn't prepared a present for him, I at least wanted to go wish him a happy birthday. Rahi _never_ had a birthday party, yet most people in Konohana tended to gravitate to Town Hall on his birthday. Ying supplied food and then everybody didn't leave until it started getting dark. So it wasn't a party, yet it might as well have been a party. My mom was planning on dropping in later after my dad got off from work. So Rahi's birthday was what prompted me travel through the tunnel and head over to Konohana. As I stepped out of the tunnel and let my eyes adjust to the daylight, I took notice of the person standing over by the shipping bin. He seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see him.

"Akito," I breathed, the name sounding as familiar to me as my own as I formed it on my lips.

"Violet," he responded, looking strangely stiff for some reason as he averted his eyes. Yep, he definitely looked stiff as a board, rigid, as he stood there looking at me. I didn't know the reason and I certainly didn't like it. I wanted him to loosen up. I wanted his shoulders to droop a little and for him to give me that easygoing grin of his.

I crossed the distance between us and went over to the shipping bin, too. I hopped up to sit on it and crossed one leg over the other, completely ignoring the nearby benches. Rahi wouldn't be pleased if he saw me up there, but what he didn't know on his birthday wouldn't hurt him.

"What's up, Ki?" I asked, finding myself longing for him to even look at me. That was kind of funny in an ironic way considering how steadfastly I tended to avoid looking at him sometimes. I hadn't seen him since the Music Festival and the last time I'd seen him he'd had that weird look on his face I hadn't been able to decipher. He studiously avoided my gaze.

"Uh, nothing much. Just, you know, taking care of the animals and all that. Same ole, same ole."

Even his voice sounded off to me. I didn't like it, not one little bit. "What are you doing over here by the shipping bin? Were you sending something off?"

"Huh?" He looked down at the shipping bin. Specifically, he looked at the part of the bin directly to my left and avoided looking at the person sitting on top of it altogether. "No. I was just hanging out and taking a break."

I looked around and noticed that he was unusually and blessedly alone. The question left a bad taste in my mouth before I even asked it. "Where is Courtney?"

"I'm not sure. She got upset at me. She said I spend more time with the animals than I do her and stormed off somewhere."

"What? Taking care of the animals is your job, Akito. What does she think you ought to do? Just sit back and let them take care of themselves?"

He ran his fingers through his bangs, tugging slightly out of agitation. He didn't answer me, though. I got the distinct impression that there was something he wasn't telling me. Given his current state of mood, which was more poor than I'd seen in years, I wasn't sure how hard I should push him on the subject. As if he could read my mind, and sometimes it really seemed as if he could, he said "Don't. Just don't."

I made a disgruntled sound and held up one hand in surrender. "Okay." Geez, he was seriously cranky and it just wasn't like him.

Akito stalked off about ten feet before whirling around on the heels of his feet and approaching me again. When he made it back by me, he finally looked me in the eyes. I could see the apology there before the words even left his mouth. "I'm sorry Vi, really. I'm just really upset right now and I'm really trying not to take it out on you. The last thing I want is to take it out on you."

"Hey," I said as I hopped off the lid of the bin and put my hand on his arm. "Never apologize for venting to me if you need it. Okay? I'm your friend. I'm here for you just like you've been there for me. Alright?"

"Alright," he said. Relief flooded his tone and at that moment I knew that _my_ Akito, the cheerful fellow, was back.

"Sometimes relationships aren't easy, you know?" I said. I couldn't believe that I was trying to coach him about his relationship with Courtney when every fiber of my being was yelling at me to do the opposite. I wanted him as far away from Courtney as I could get him. That wasn't my place, though, and it certainly wasn't my decision. What I wanted didn't matter. What mattered to me was what Akito wanted. Once again, I reminded myself that I had to be better for Akito's sake.

"Speaking of relationships."

When he didn't continue on I asked "What?"

"You and Jackson?" he asked. For some reason, I could see him fading into himself a little. It wasn't as bad as when he'd been so upset about Courtney a minute earlier, but I didn't like it either. I could see him fighting some inner war that I couldn't understand. The fact that he hadn't turned away from me showed that he was winning so far so at least there was that.

"Um, yeah. Me and Jackson." This time, it was me who couldn't bring myself to look at him. At least this was something I was used to, something that was normal. It was strange. Akito was with Courtney and now I was with Jackson, and yet. . .

"Hey, I. . ." he started, but then he stopped speaking and turned his head a little. "Vi, do you hear that?"

"What?" I asked. I looked up and down the road and didn't see anybody and more to the point, I wasn't hearing anything.

"Wait, wait, wait. Right there. That."

I listened again and this time I did hear something. "What is it?" I asked. "It sounds like somebody is," I started as my eyes met his, both sets widening in alarm. "screaming?"

"It sounds like it's coming from the farm," Akito said suddenly, taking off running in that direction.

I immediately realized who it must have been as I shot off after him. "Cheryl!"

When we made it closer to the farm, the screams grew louder and there was a lot of barking. Cheryl and Phillip's dogs were surrounding something on the ground. Akito let a couple of surprising choice words slip out his mouth as he dropped to his knees in front of an unconscious Phillip.

"Phillip. Phillip, can you hear me?" he asked, using a calm tone that I didn't think I was capable of at the moment.

I tried to mirror that calm tone of his. "Phillip?!" I failed. It came out screechy. I tried again. "Phillip, can you hear me? Open your eyes." There was no response.

Akito pressed his ear against Phillip's chest and looked up at me as he said "His heart is beating just fine and he's breathing normally. Look." He indicated a bump on Phillip's head. "Something hit him there."

For the first time, I became aware of the horse nearby that looked like it was positively distraught. "The horse, Ki. I bet it got upset and accidentally hit Phillip. You have to do something to calm it down. And Phillip! Should we move him? Wait, no, you're not supposed to move somebody when they're like this, right? And," My words were cut off when I heard another eardrum splitting scream emanate from inside the house. "Oh my Goddess, Cheryl!"

Akito jumped up and put his hands on my shoulders. "Violet. Breathe, okay? You go in the house and check on Cheryl and I'll take care of things out here. I'll be in as soon as I'm done, okay? Go check on Cheryl."

I did as he said and I breathed. My breaths weren't deep, but they were far enough from shallow that they brought me closer to a sense of calm. With a nod of my head I hurried toward the house. I opened the door and immediately heard a very pained "Aaah!"

"Cheryl?" I called out in steadily increasing alarm. "Cheryl?!"

The children were at school and somewhere in the house was Cheryl, but there was a shocking silence for about five seconds before I heard "Violet?" And then there was sobbing. I followed the sound until I found Cheryl in her bedroom. One thing became apparent to me as I saw Cheryl collapsed on the floor, close to her bed yet still not close enough considering she wasn't on it. Cheryl was in labor.


	20. The Delivery

"Cheryl!" I exclaimed as I hurried over to where she was on the floor and crouched down. It was right on the tip of my tongue to ask her if she was okay, but I thought better than to say that considering it was obvious she wasn't okay at all.

"P-P-Phillip?" She ground out. "Where?"

The breath hitched in my lungs for a second. Phillip was still breathing so did that mean he was okay? His head was hurt, though, so I wasn't sure how to answer. At the moment, Cheryl was looking at me so expectantly that I said the only thing I felt I could say. "Phillip is okay. There's been a change of plans, Cheryl. Don't worry, though. I'm here with you."

"B-But,"

"Shhh. No 'buts,' okay? Save your strength."

I resisted the urge to stand back up and pace while I waited for Akito. Instead, I remained crouched there in front of Cheryl and held her hands in my own as I tried to soothe her as much as I could.

"Violet?" I finally heard being called from the front of the house.

"We're in here! Back here, Ki. Follow my voice!" I called out, trying not to let my growing panic register in my eyes because Cheryl was looking right at me. She looked away as she tried not to scream through the pain of another contraction.

Akito ran right by the door at first, but then doubled back and put his hands on either side of the door frame, leaning inside. His eyes swept across Cheryl and immediately realized what the situation was. He looked at me and I looked at him as I stood back up and approached him. I nodded to confirm his suspicions and I saw his quiet exhale of breath.

"Wow."

"I'll say. Phillip?" I asked quietly enough that Cheryl couldn't hear me.

"He's as fine as he can be at the moment," Akito responded in an equally quiet voice. "And I calmed the horse down before moving it to the barn."

"Good." It was a relief to hear that Phillip was okay for the time being. If Akito said he was fine for now, then I trusted him and allowed myself to let most of that worry dissolve. "The more pressing matter now is Cheryl."

"You're right," he said, returning to a normal volume that she could hear from where she was on the floor. "We can't keep standing here talking, we have to do something Violet. Should I run into town and find Hiro?"

"No time!" Cheryl screeched at us. "The baby is coming!"

"The baby is coming now?!" we exclaimed in perfect harmony.

"I can. . .I-I can feel it!" she informed us.

I turned to Akito and said "I haven't timed the contractions, but it seems like they're really close, like less than five minutes."

He looked at me very seriously as he said "We're going to have to deliver this baby right now."

"What?!" I tried to keep the panic at bay again because I didn't want to stress Cheryl out more than she already was.

"Yes. And we're wasting time as we speak," he said in a hushed tone. He was the picture of strength and calm, like an unmovable mountain in the midst of a howling storm. "Violet."

"Akito?" I squeaked, feeling my stomach doing the kind of dance that made me wish it would break its leg and crawl into a corner somewhere.

He put his hands on my cheeks and lowered his head so that we were face to face with his eyes boring into mine. "We can do this. _You_ can do this. You're a strong, smart, determined, resilient person. Okay? It's going to be okay."

Despite the situation we were in the middle of and all of the gravity of it weighing down on me, his words still had an impact. Boom-clap. My mouth was as dry as a desert as I whispered "B-But she's had such a difficult pregnancy, Ki. What if something happens. . .what if. . .?"

"We don't have time for 'what if,' Violet. We have to do this now. Can you do this? Cheryl needs you, you. Her baby needs you. _I_ need you."

He was still staring straight into my eyes, topaz meeting amethyst, and I felt a strange sense of resolve flowing through me. Everybody needed me. _Akito_ needed me. I couldn't let them down. I couldn't let _him_ down. His strength right then was my strength. I was strong. We were strong. We could do this. I nodded at him and he gave me the smallest hint of a smile before he let his hands drop and said "That's my girl. Now lets get this show on the road."

As carefully as he possibly could, Akito picked up Cheryl and lowered her onto the bed. It was like watching somebody handle an extremely fragile piece of china, he went about it so delicately. I marveled at that, the ability of a man who was as strong as him, to display such restraint and gentleness. I had no idea if he should actually be moving her or not, but I knew that I didn't want her to have to give birth to her baby on the floor so I sent a prayer to the Harvest Goddess that we weren't doing anything wrong so far. Both of us had helped animals give birth, but this was a human-being so this was uncharted territory for us.

"I'll be right back," he told Cheryl in the most soothing voice he had in his arsenal. "Violet is going to take great care of you while I'm gone."

With that said, he left the room with his back straight and his head held high, exuding a confidence that I had no idea how he managed to feel. While he was gone, and with Cheryl's permission, I checked on the progress of her labor. I sucked in a sharp breath just as Akito was coming back into the room with a cool, wet washcloth. He wiped away Cheryl's tears with it before putting it across her forehead as he asked "What is it?"

I looked up at him. "The baby is coming, Ki. She's right. It's coming now. Like. . . _right now_."

"I'm going to k-k-kill Phillip!" Cheryl yelled as she just about squeezed the life out of Akito's hand. "He did this to me. I h-h-h-hate him! As soon as I see him a-again I'm going to. . .Aaaah!"

After a very quick discussion about how we were going to proceed and a few more very rushed preparations, the show finally did get on the road. Before I knew it, I was holding a perfect little baby girl. I counted ten fingers and ten toes. She started crying immediately. She certainly looked healthy, but given the circumstances, I wouldn't feel confident about that until Hiro declared her to be so. After carefully wrapping her in the soft, clean towel I brought with me from the bathroom, I lowered her into Cheryl's waiting arms just as Phillip came wobbling into the room with a hand against his injured head.

"C-Cheryl. W-W-W. . . _What_?!"

"Akito, we can't go any further with this. We need Hiro to take care of the rest, okay? Hurry into town and get him."

Akito nodded and hurried out the room, but not before resting a hand on my shoulder and squeezing just a little. I left Cheryl, Phillip, and the baby to have their private family bonding time. I also left so I could go wash my hands, which I felt was absolutely imperative at that moment. When Akito came back, it seemed like he had the whole town in tow. Hiro, Makoto, and even Ayame came into the room and when I made my way outside for some much needed fresh air, the farm was full of people. I wiped the sweat off my forehead as Akito hurried over to me and swept me up into a hug. He held on so tightly that I could barely breath and yet I had no complaint about that whatsoever. I squeezed him back just as tightly and laughed a little when we let go. It was a laugh full of my relief.

"That was intense," was all I could say on the matter as I slumped a little bit, needing to find something to lean against so I could rest. I didn't want to go back into the house.

Akito put his arm around my shoulders and led me over to sit on a barrel next to the house. He sat on the one next to mine and kept his arm around my shoulders. I found myself leaning into his side, suddenly feeling tired. It was funny. If anybody should be feeling tired it was Cheryl, not me. People rushed over and started asking us so many questions it made my head spin. Luckily, I had Akito there to politely persuade them all to leave us alone. I shot up off the barrel when I saw the door open and watched Cheryl being pushed out on a wheeled stretcher. When they took that into the house, I had no clue because I hadn't seen that happen. The baby was on Cheryl's chest and Phillip was holding her hand, walking alongside the stretcher. Cheryl had yelled she hated him before, but the way she was gazing lovingly at her husband now suggested otherwise. Nobody got in the way as they made their way down the driveway and toward the clinic, but everybody did cheer and offer their congratulations.

With a gasp, I grabbed the rucksack I couldn't even remember throwing on the ground let alone when I'd thrown it there. It probably happened right after we discovered Phillip unconscious. "Colby! I have to let her and her family know what's happened with Cheryl!"

When I tried to run off, Akito wrapped a firm hand around my arm and stopped me. "It's taken care of, Vi. I asked Keiko and Willow to do it when I went to get Hiro."

I relaxed a little bit and said "Thank you, Ki. Not just for getting Hiro and having somebody get Colby, but. . .I don't know. I was so close to faltering in there and putting two lives in jeopardy. I didn't think we could do it and you were my rock. You helped me make it through."

"You're welcome. Now I'd like to thank _you_ , Vi."

"You're welcome, but," I started as my brows furrowed "you're thanking _me_ for what?"

Something flitted right behind his eyes then, some thought or emotion that I couldn't make sense of, which was happening with him a lot these days. He smiled at me, though, and when he did it was genuine. The smile reached his eyes and pushed whatever was behind them back somewhere else in his mind. "Thank you for not making a liar out of me, for proving me right just like I knew you could. You really rose to the occasion."

"It was a team effort," I assured him as I put a hand against his cheek. He immediately reached up and put his hand over my own, holding it there with his. I smiled so warmly at him that the cool fall air didn't stand a chance against me. "We make a great team."

That look was there in his eyes again for a second. It disappeared right before he said "You're right. We do."

Akito offered me his arm and then we, along with what looked like the rest of the town, made our way over to the clinic. Unlike the rest of the town, though, as soon as we arrived at the clinic we were pretty much pulled inside like we had V.I.P access or something. As soon as we made it inside, we were pretty much engulfed in the sea that was Cheryl's family. Colby, Jessica, Ash, Phillip, Kimberly, and even Reina were all over us with hugs and telling us how grateful they were for what we'd done. Colby gave me another one of her bone-crushing hugs, showing much less restraint than Akito had before and still I didn't mind. Ash proudly told everybody that it was his goddaughter who saved the life of his sister and niece, though he made sure to acknowledge Akito's part as well.

Phillip filled us in on what had happened to him. When Cheryl went into labor, he went outside to get the horse so he could ride it into town and get Hiro faster. The horse got spooked by something, he didn't know what, and knocked him in the head. It was lights out after that. Hiro had told him he was lucky the horse didn't hit him harder than that because his situation could have been much worse. Phillip didn't even have a concussion. Hiro praised Akito for the actions he took with Phillip while he was unconscious before he made his way over to me.

He looked at me with that youthful face of his and gave me such a boyish smile as he said "You performed most admirably, Violet, despite such dire circumstances."

"So Cheryl and the baby? I mean, everything really is fine? I know Cheryl had such a difficult pregnancy and I was worried there would be some kind of complication and that we would do something wrong and something bad would happen and I would put them in some kind of danger and. . ."

Akito rested a calming palm against my back and I shut up, taking a deep breath since I had used all of my air on that very long run-on sentence. I had been talking so fast, too, that I wondered if Hiro had even understood half of what I'd said.

"Both have acquired a clean bill of health," Hiro assured me. "You two have much to be proud of."

"Thank you, Doctor Nakamura," Akito said as he shook his hand.

"Have I told you lately," Colby asked as she draped her arm across my shoulders "that I love you and you're my best friend?"

I laughed before I said "Not lately, no. You don't have to tell me what I already know, though."

Colby gave me one of the most radiant smiles I'd ever seen cross her face and went to chat with Reina, who gave me what must have been the most radiant smile I'd ever seen cross _her_ face. It's not that Reina wasn't a nice person. She was. And I'd always known that she very fond of me. She was quite like my father in the fact that she was reserved, though.

After listening to Jessica promise that she was going to send Akito and I something special sometime soon, Makoto came out and came to a stop before us. "She's asking for you two." As soon as we started heading toward the exam rooms Makoto added one more thing on to say to us. "Good job." Getting a compliment from Makoto was like getting a Nobel Peace prize. I felt like a winner.

When we entered the room, Phillip was sitting on the bed next to Cheryl with the baby cradled in his arms. Cheryl smiled at us more brightly than the sun when we stood side-by-side in front of them. "I don't know how we can ever really thank you two. The words don't seem like they'll ever be enough." Cheryl reached out her hands to us and we took them. She squeezed, much more gently this time than she had when she'd held onto Akito's hand before. "Thank you."

"Thank you," Phillip mirrored her words, putting all of his gratitude behind each syllable.

"You're both welcome," I told them, suddenly having to work hard to hold back happy tears.

"Really, it was our honor," Akito said, putting his free hand on my shoulder. He wasn't looking at me, yet it seemed he was somehow aware of the positive emotions threatening to overwhelm me.

Cheryl laughed at something inside of her head before she spoke again. "You know, this all could've been avoided if I'd only listened to Phillip and Hiro."

"Don't you do that to yourself," Phillip said very insistently as he turned toward her on the bed.

"It's the truth, though," she said to him before looking back up at us and releasing our hands. "Both of them wanted me to spend the rest of my pregnancy here at the clinic due to all of the problems I've been having. That way, when I went into labor Hiro and Makoto would be there immediately to take care of me. But you know me. I just had to be stubborn and insist on staying at home. I couldn't imagine spending those last few weeks cooped up in the clinic and because of that, this could have all turned out so horribly that I don't even want to imagine what might have happened."

"Don't do that to yourself," Akito said, using that super soothing voice again. "What matters is that it all turned out just fine. Focus on that and the healthy baby in front of you. Things could have turned out a lot worse, but they didn't. Don't linger on that no-win scenario and just count your blessings, because you have plenty. The best one of all is right there before you."

Sometimes Akito really did know exactly what to say. He'd done that with me on more than one occasion and I could see him doing it with Cheryl. The guilt that had just been written on her face was dissolving away, being replaced with a look much more akin to peace.

"Since we couldn't give you enough thanks no matter how hard we try," Phillip informed us then before he kissed the baby's soft cheek. I noticed the tufts of tawny hair on her head and smiled. "we decided we wanted to honor you in the best ways we know how."

Cheryl sat up and held out her arms. Phillip handed the baby over to her and I watched as she opened her eyes. They were blue, the color of the clearest sky. "We decided on a name," Cheryl told us as I watched the baby close her eyes again. "It's kind of an unconventional combination, we know, but we think it somehow fits. How do you two feel about her first name being Violet and her midd le name being Aki?"

"Violet Aki?" I intoned softly, almost reverently as I stared down at the baby. "I-I think we would love if you'd call her that. Right, Ki?"

He wasn't smiling with his lips, but I felt as if he were smiling with his entire being as he said "It's perfect, Cheryl, Phillip. We'd be honored."

"We do have one more request," Cheryl mentioned as she looked over at her husband, who nodded in agreement. "You two helped her come into the world and we know you would always have her best interests at heart. That being said, would you consider being her godparents?"

Akito and I immediately looked at each other and I really could never, ever truly explain it but something transpired between us in that moment. There was something there that I don't think it is even possible to put a name to.

"What do you say, Vi? You wanna be a godparent with me?" He posed this question to me and his lips lifted into that easygoing smile I liked the best.

"I would love to be a godparent with you," I told him earnestly, knowing that there was probably nobody I would rather share that responsibility with.

I felt such a huge pang in my boom-clap heart right then. A thought filtered through my brain and I forced it to be so brief that even I barely had the time to process it before I shut it out completely. It was somewhere along the lines of ' _How does he keep making me love him more when that shouldn't even be possible_?' But I fiercely pushed it away so fast that I couldn't even be sure that was what I'd thought. Those were words that were not for me to think in correlation to Akito. He was with Courtney. I was with Jackson, who was truly a great guy who I was determined to do my best to make it work with. If what I had with Jackson had any kind of a chance of succeeding then I had to squash those words as far down as I could and try to move on. I had to move on even if technically there had never been anything between me and Akito move on from.

When we got back out to the front of the clinic, I didn't make it out the door before Akito grabbed my arm and pulled me against him in another hug. His chin rested on top of my head and I could feel it moving as he said "You did great today. I just wanted to drive that point home before you went out there and started telling people you didn't really do much of anything when we both know that's not accurate."

I smiled against his chest because he was right. If anybody asked, I'd fully planned on saying something along those lines. I didn't bother denying it because we both knew it was the truth. Akito knew me, simple as that. If I had tried to deny it, he would have done that thing of his where he stared at me as if he were seeing right through me until I fessed up. I let myself have this moment with Akito and I breathed deeply, wanting a hit of that laundry-fresh scent of him. My nose wrinkled and I frowned as I realized it wasn't there and I realized then that it had been missing the whole time I'd been around him that day. I'd just been too caught up in everything to realize it until that moment. He smelled clean, sure. There was the faint scent of soap coming from his skin and a more subdued smell of detergent to his shirt, but it wasn't the same.

"Akito?" I asked as I took a step back and tried not to let my disappointment register on my face. "What's up with your laundry detergent? You smell different."

He looked confused at first, but then his eyebrows raised. "That? Oh. Courtney's never really liked the brand I've always used. She didn't like the scent and said I used way too much. She switched me to some concentrated brand that she says I can use less of. I actually like the old one better, but. . ."

Try as I did, I could not keep my words to myself on the matter. "Me, too. I mean, I like the old brand better. I just think it's very," I started before I paused, thinking of how I wanted to finish that sentence. "I think it's very _you_."

I turned around and strolled out the clinic then. That was when I came to the realization that a great many people from Bluebell had come over to Konohana now, too. Poor Rahi. My new goddaughter had stolen all of the thunder on his birthday. Courtney hurried over and glomped onto Akito's arm, gushing over how her boyfriend was a hero and how proud she was to know that he was hers. When she said all that she made sure to look over at me as if she wanted to make sure I knew she was marking her territory.

I didn't have much time to spare to shoot her back the kind of look she deserved because Jackson found me then and pulled me into a gentle embrace. "You're amazing," he told me as he rested his forehead against mine. His body was shielding mine from the cool wind that was blowing at us and his warmth was warming me.

My focus remained on Jackson. I didn't look at Akito. I didn't look at Courtney. My thoughts didn't stray in that direction. At the moment, it was just me and him and that was the way it had to be. There's never room for more than two people in a relationship.

"How about we meet up with my family and I tell you all about my brand new goddaughter?" I asked him as I slipped my hand in his, nodding over to where my parents were coming down the road.

"That sounds great," he told me with a flash of his dimple.

It was like there was a metaphorical fork in the road as Akito and I left the clinic. He was traveling in one direction and I was traveling in another. My eyes had to stay on the road before me. I couldn't allow them to stray in the direction of his path. My path had to exist next to his path, but they couldn't touch. They were parallel. They didn't converge.


	21. Keiko's Party

The day after what would surely go down in history as the most infamous birth in either of the two towns, I went back to Konohana to visit my sweet little goddaughter. Godmother. I was a godmother now! I would have to have a sit down with Laney at the cafe soon and ask her if she had any advice considering she had always been a wonderful godmother to me. I'm sure that Ash would be more than willing to give me some advice as well. At the moment, I was pretty sure Ash would give me the moon if I asked for it and he'd throw in a few stars too just because.

When the time for Konohana's flower festival came around, I was kind of relieved when Oliver didn't have school and was able to assist our father instead of me. Not only was I glad my little brother didn't have to try to skip school again to be there, but I was also happy that I wouldn't have to watch him sulk around the house and shoot me looks of betrayal from under his hat. When the two of them came home that evening, Oliver was the exact opposite. He had the biggest smile on his face. I was a little tempted to ask him if he gave a flower to Kimberly even if it wasn't Bluebell's turn for the festival. I remembered, though, that I'd decided to ease up on my sisterly teasing so I left it alone.

Before I knew it, next week had arrived and I finally got all of that painting done that had been requested of me. The signs outside of the shops looked as good as new, with a few improvements from me, and I went ahead and painted anything else I thought needed sprucing up. Keiko's birthday came around, too. She was having a birthday party. Rather, as Keiko informed me, Makoto had insisted she have a birthday party this year. That morning I spent my time doing my work on the farm with my mom. We decided to divide up the work a little differently that day. There were two important festivals coming up. The Fall Crop festival and the Fall Animal festival were coming up. I hadn't been back home long enough to personally raise an animal and enter it into the festival. I certainly had been home long enough to cultivate some pretty worthy crops, however.

So while my mom was entering the Fall Animal festival, I was entering the Fall Crop festival. It was a Konohana festival, true, but anybody from either town could enter as long as they thought they had something good enough to win. Therefore, my mother was taking care of the animals and paying special attention to the sheep she was going to enter. Meanwhile, I was out in the fields making sure that all of the crops were taken care of. I paid extra special attention, though, to my carrots because I was determined that one of them was going to be the winner in a couple of days when that festival rolled around.

After everything was done, I hopped in the shower and was actually surprised not to find Colby in my room when I got back in there. She always, _always_ somehow knew when I was about to get ready for whatever event was going on and nine times out of ten she would magically appear in my room at just that time. For some reason, the fact that she wasn't there that day sent up a little red flag for me. It had me feeling rather uneasy, but I did my best to disregard it as I took my time getting ready until I heard a knock on the front door. I intercepted my father before he could answer it.

"I've got it, dad. It's probably Jackson. We're going to walk over to Keiko's party together," I explained as I held up a hand and then put on my jacket. I wrinkled my nose and knew that as cool as it was outside now, it was only going to get colder when winter came around. I'd have to bring out chunkier scarves and thicker coats then. Gloves would probably be nice. I didn't usually wear hats but for winter perhaps a few could be arranged.

My father was conspicuously silent back there. When I was done zipping up the jacket, I spared him a glance and then did a double-take. His eyes were trained on me, but he wasn't saying anything. After what felt like forever, even though it could only have been ten seconds at the most, he said "Have fun."

As I watched him walk away to locate my mother, I heard another knock at the door reminding me that Jackson was waiting on me. "Coming," I called out.

I thought about my father. He'd been acting a little weird ever since the night he admitted the reason why he'd pushed the 'Jackson is your cousin' thing so heavily on me all those years. Perhaps he felt a little guilty, especially after realizing how much stress it'd caused me once my relationship with Jackson began.

As I slipped out the house, I gave Jackson an apologetic smile. "Sorry it too me so long, Jack."

"It wasn't that long. Besides, it was worth the wait."

He stepped closer to me and brushed my bangs aside long enough to place a kiss on my forehead. His lips were warm and soft as they lingered for a few moments. The smell of freshly cut grass made me feel, for a moment, like it was summer rather than fall. The chilly air begged to differ, but I let my mind transport me to warmer times for that moment. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug, resting my head on his shoulder. As his arms came around me I said "Hi there."

"Hello. You look beautiful today. I can't wait to get to the party and show you off."

The seasons suddenly shifted again, this time to spring because his flattery made butterflies flutter around in my stomach. "I think I'll be showing you off instead."

"Is that so?" he asked as we started walking, side by side. His eyes were twinkling. Jackson obviously liked the direction this conversation had taken.

"Yep. You should wear green more often. It looks good on you and goes really well with your eyes." The top of his shirt was visible under his jacket and I liked the shade of it.

He flashed me a smile then and there went that dimple. "I'll wear green every day of the week if you like it."

While he was still smiling, I reached over and ran a finger over the dimple I'd been secretly wanting to touch. When he stopped smiling, it disappeared. Jackson looked pleased by my touch as he leaned into it. I rubbed where the dimple had been again and saw yearning in his eyes, but he also looked confused so I said "Don't go smiling at any other women, okay? I don't need them seeing that dimple."

Jackson's smile came back in full force and the dimple came along with it. He looked a little mischievous as he said "Oh, I get it. You like my dimple do you?"

"It's a weapon of mass destruction, Jackson. Don't use it on anybody who isn't me," I teased him, at the same time finding myself a little serious about this. I was starting to think of it as my dimple and I didn't really want to share it.

"What about Keiko?" he asked me as we started through the tunnel. "It _is_ her birthday, you know. It'd be kind of rude to deprive her of the gift of my smile."

I thought about that and let out a fake sigh, feigning exasperation. "Well, I suppose. . .Since, you know, it _is_ her birthday and she's my friend and all. Hmm. . .Alright. If you absolutely must, you can smile for Keiko. If you have to smile enough to show the dimple, though, then limit yourself to about five seconds. Then you have to shut it down."

Jackson chuckled as he slipped his hand in mine, threading our fingers together. He squeezed gently as we made it through the other side of the tunnel. Immediately, my mind went into two directions. It went to the left, down the road that I knew went to Cheryl and Phillip's farm. I knew that I would always remember that day with absolute clarity for as long as I lived. My mind also went ever so slightly to the right, to the shop that Akito had taken charge of for his father. With Jackson's hand in mine, I carefully directed my mind even more to the right. I directed it to the road we were going to walk down to take us to the party.

"You know, Makoto had a few different ideas about where he wanted the party to be. For a minute there, he even considered having it outside."

I stopped walking and since Jackson and I were holding hands, he was kind of yanked back by my abrupt halt. "Outside?" I asked. It was one thing for me to have to attend a festival that was outside in the cooler seasons. It was another thing entirely for there to be a party outside. At least, in my mind, there was.

"Relax," Jackson said, taking his other hand and holding my cheek in it. His hand was warm. He must have had it in his pocket, I supposed. "Makoto nixed that idea almost immediately. He told me he'd never hear the end of it from you if it was outside."

"I wouldn't hound him about it," I told Jackson as we started walking again. "I'd just shoot him accusatory looks for a while to get my message across." I was just joking, but it struck me then, the realization that I would have been doing exactly what Oliver had done to me after the first Flower Day if I'd actually done that.

Makoto was actually throwing the party at the tea house. He'd requested it be a semi-formal affair. He wanted it dressy, but not too dressy. That was why I was wearing a long-sleeved white blouse with lavender flowers and a simple black pencil skirt. The pair of black tights I had on underneath the skirt made sure my legs were moderately warm. I sure wasn't about to leave my legs vulnerable to the elements like Courtney would. I'd put on a pair of sleek black wedge heels to complete the look. I nearly put my hair into a french twist, but I felt that would be leaning a little too much toward the formal side of things. I opted for pulling half of it into a little twist at the back of my head and letting the rest of my hair flow down my back.

When we stepped into the warmth of the tea house, I smiled. Makoto had asked me to be in charge of decorating. Rather, he'd grumbled that he might as well have me do it since I was the closest thing to a 'professional decorator person' that either town had to offer. This was Makoto. Words like those were akin to flattery. I was honored.

I unzipped my jacket and shrugged it off before putting it on the coat rack Ying had added near the door, right next to the potted bamboo plant that seemed to be a mainstay of the place. As I reached up and hung it up, Jackson wrapped his arms around me and hugged me from behind. "You look even better than I thought," he breathed next to my ear. "You should wear purple more often. It looks good on you and goes really well with your eyes," he echoed most of my words from earlier back at me.

My heart was beating faster than I could credit from Jackson's sudden nearness and my stomach fluttered. I was able to play it cool as I said "Technically, it's lavender." It was kind of a silly thing to point out considering I hadn't mentioned to him the exact shade of green that his shirt was. It was forest green in case you were wondering.

"Semantics," Jackson said simply, his breath warm against my ear.

"Is it just me or is it hot in here?" I heard Colby say from somewhere behind us teasingly. I knew her words were directed at us. I also knew that tone of voice. She was extremely amused.

"Perhaps we should look for a fire extinguisher," I heard a voice that could only belong to one person say. It hit me like a frigid blast of water. As far as I was concerned, no fire extinguisher was needed anymore.

As I turned around, I carefully schooled my features so that when I came face-to-face with Ignacio, Colby wouldn't see the complete disdain I felt for him. "Colby, I was wondering where you were." Ignacio turning up would explain why she hadn't been in my room before. " _Iggy_ , I wasn't expecting you. So _nice_ of you to join us."

"Yes, well, I came into town this morning to see my beloved here and found out she was busy for the day. Now I am her plus one and we can be together," he said smoothly with a little smirk that told me I wasn't fooling him. He was well aware of the fact that I was putting on a show for Colby's benefit.

Colby, as usual, was looking blissful at his side. She'd pulled out all the stops, as she usually did when he was around, and was looking very feminine. Colby was a tomboy at heart. "You look awesome, Vi," Colby enthused as she kind of melted into Ignacio's side.

I hadn't dressed like this since leaving the city. This kind of outfit was kind of the flip side of my job back in the city. On the one hand, I had to wear paint-smeared clothes and aprons that didn't really stop the mess at the end of the day. On the other hand, I had to wear professional, nice clothes for meetings and gallery shows. "You, too, Col."

"I was just telling Violet here how great she looks," Jackson said, slipping his hand into mine. "You look wonderful, too, Colby." Whereas Ignacio said something and I heard the falseness just bleeding from his words, Jackson's words were absolutely sincere. Why couldn't Colby find somebody like Jackson? Somebody who was sweet, fun, trustworthy, and sincere? There was a growing sense of dread in me. I'd always known that Colby was going to have to learn the hard way just what Ignacio's true colors were. As I watched him smirk at me, though, that feeling started to become more intense.

"Thank you, Jack," Colby said. "You're so sweet."

Ignacio started saying something else, but I cut him off with "Well, I know you two don't get to spend as much time together as Colby would like, so I think we're going to let you two have some alone time. _Iggy_ , again, it was nice to see you. Colby, I'll talk to you later."

With that said, I tightened my hold on Jackson's hand and started pulling so I could lead him away from the pair. We went deeper into the tea house and I looked around the place. Not only had I been in charge of decorations, but I'd also did a little rearranging for the party. I'd rearranged the tables and brought a couple more in. Ying had given her permission, of course, and I'd promised to have it looking back to normal before the next day. Jackson didn't know it yet, but he was going to help me with that.

"Wow," Jackson said as I came to a stop in front of the table I wanted and sat my handbag down to mark our spot. It was odd bringing a handbag considering there was never any reason to carry one of those around in Konohana. I was missing my rucksack at the moment. "You really don't like that guy, do you?"

I played with the ends of my scarf. I then yanked on the scarf a little more viciously than I'd intended as I thought about Ignacio while I was taking it off. I sat it down to mark Jackson's seat. "That's a bit of an understatement, Jackson."

He came up behind me and put his arms around me again, resting his chin on my shoulder, providing me with comfort I was in need of at the moment. "That guy is all kinds of smarmy. Don't worry about it. One of these days, Colby is going to come to her senses and see what a bad seed he is."

"That's what I'm worried about, Jack," I confided worriedly. "I'm worried about what's going to happen when she finally does come to her senses."

He kissed me on the cheek before he released me and said "You worry too much, Violet. Listen, I got distracted by them before so I'm going to go back and hang my jacket up. I'll be back here before you know it."

With that said, he went back toward the door and I was standing there alone. I put my hand up to my cheek where he'd kissed me at and pressed against it for a moment, deep in thought. I didn't even hear anybody approaching me, but suddenly I had some company.

"You two looked cozy." As I whirled around, I came face to face with, well, I'll give you one guess. That's right. Akito. Upon first glance, he looked a little weird. His face was a little pinched as if something were bothering him. A few seconds later, though, I could see him appraising me as he took in my outfit. His face lit up as he said "You look beautiful, Vi. Lavender is a great color for you."

My heart started singing then. There you have it, folks, a man who knows the difference between purple and lavender. I was impressed. "You, too, Ki. You clean up well."

That was the truth. He did, in fact, clean up well. If he looked that good in his mahogany button-down shirt and black slacks then I had no idea how great he'd look in an actual suit now that he was a fully grown adult. He must have worn suits in the city for his job in business. That, I imagined, must have been a real sight to see. My heart couldn't be deterred from doing the thing it always did whenever Akito was around. I glanced over at Jackson, though, in an attempt to make it stop. He was being held up, chatting with Ayame. Just seeing him, though, helped me get my feelings back under control before they could run rampant. I was making an effort. I was making a real effort when it came to my relationship with Jackson. I couldn't stand there thinking about how heart-achingly handsome Akito looked and letting my heart boom-clap all over the place. That wasn't right. That wasn't fair.

Of course, before Akito and I could get another word in, the 'gift' that just kept on giving appeared and wrapped her hands around his arm. I wondered if she was cutting his circulation off from how tight her grip was. "Ah, Violet. It's so lovely to see you." Courtney's voice rang about as false as mine had when I was talking to Ignacio. "You look nice! You were so _cute_ during the Fireworks Festival." She was referring to the night when she'd essentially told me I'd looked like a child. "Today, though, you look so," she trailed off, thinking for a few seconds. "surprisingly elegant. It's a refreshing change for you."

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The cleverly crafted, subdued insults had started. Now she was basically saying I looked a hot mess most of the time. And poor Akito stood there looking none-the-wiser, having no idea that Courtney had just thrown down the gauntlet.

"Thank you, Courtney. You look nice yourself. I will tell you, though, that I wore clothes like this all the time when I lived in the city."

"Oh? Did you?" she asked, using a deceptively sweet tone.

"Mmm-hmm. I had a lot of meetings and gallery shows to attend for my job. That reminds me, _Court_. I never asked what, exactly, you do back in the city where you're from."

"My father owns a very lucrative business," she told me with an air of superiority that didn't surprise me.

"That's wonderful, but that's what he does. What do _you_ do?" I already knew the answer to that question, though. The answer was nothing. Well, nothing except for spending her father's hard-earned money. ' _Going to all of those stores every day must have been positively exhausting for the poor thing_ ,' I thought sarcastically.

Courtney's eyes narrowed and I could see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to fashion a covertly insulting comeback. She didn't get the chance to, though, because Zhen came over and jumped into the conversation. "Violet," he said as he cut in at just the right time. "You're looking quite lovely. You, too, uh. . .excuse me, please give me a moment." He paused and really had to sift through his mind before he came up with "Courtney, right?"

She was fuming, but she hid it well as she said. "That's right. And thank you, Zhen." I could have kissed Zhen for struggling so much with her name.

"How's business, Zhen?" I asked, changing the topic of conversation. "Oh, have you made any new jewelry lately?"

He smiled at me knowingly as he said "I have, as a matter of fact. That necklace you were so fond of the last time you were in my shop, though? The amethyst pendant? It's still there."

"I'm not sure if I should be disappointed for you or relieved that nobody else has bought it yet," I told him honestly. "Oh, I think that Willow is waving for you to come over to her. I'll walk with you so I can say hi to her, okay?"

"Okay," Zhen replied.

"Have a nice time, Ki. Courtney."

As I passed by Akito, something caught my attention. It was something kind of wonderful that brought such a big smile to my face. I caught a whiff of something as I walked by him. It was fresh, clean, and strong. That beautiful laundry scent that I associated with him was back.


	22. A Beginning and an Ending

**Author's Note:** Alas, this is how it must be, how it was always meant to be.

* * *

After chatting with Willow for a few minutes, I had a chat with Ayame, who was no longer chatting with Jackson. Jackson, I noticed, was now in the middle of a talk with Makoto and Akito. When I was done talking to Ayame, I had the pleasure of talking to Nori.

"You look so much like your mother," she said, cradling the sides of my face as she gave me a warm smile. "You must hear that about five times a day."

"I'd say about ten, at least," I joked as she dropped her hands.

"That was a lovely scarf you were wearing when you came in. Oh, I have a wonderful idea! I will put up a request for materials at the beginning of winter. Bring what I ask to me and I will make you a new scarf. How does that sound?"

"Fantastic," I told her, immediately excited at the prospect of having a brand new scarf. "Thank you, Nori!"

"What's going on over here?" Keiko asked as she came over to us. She looked fantastic, easily the prettiest woman in the room. It was her special day, after all, and she was radiant. Keiko always looked like this poised and elegant entity, even that day she'd been on her knees trying to collect all those seeds. It was a trait she'd acquired from her mother.

"Your mom is going to make me a new scarf, that's what. Happy birthday, by the way. Aaah, look at you! You look fantastic," I enthused as I wrapped her up in a hug, careful not to wrinkle our outfits. Her top had an oriental flair to it that was so befitting a Konohana girl. She smoothed her skirt down and as her head bent a little, I noticed the chopsticks she'd used to secure the stylishly messy bun she had going on at the back of her head.

"Thanks, Vi. You look great, too!"

"You look _so_ much better than me, though. Nori, did you make this outfit?"

"I did," she confessed.

"Hey," Jackson said as he finally made it back to my side. "Makoto says it's time to get everybody seated now so we can have dinner.

"Oh, well, I guess I'll talk to you some more later Keiko. Thank you so much, Nori!"

When we were done saying bye for the time being, I let Jackson lead us back to our table. I regretted wearing that pencil skirt for a minute when I had to get down on that cushion, but sitting down wasn't as hard as I'd thought it would be. Ying came through and with the help of one of her children, everybody got their food. We were served, I noticed, all of Keiko's favorite dishes. It was kind of an unorthodox combination, but I giggled when I saw the assortment of food on the table in front of me. I caught Keiko's eye from the other side of the room and she looked even more amused than I did.

I was having a good time. As I noticed my friends around the room with their significant others, I realized I didn't feel out of place like some sort of third wheel. Being there with Jackson was nice. I had always been fine during the times I was single. I wasn't with Jackson because I couldn't have Akito and I wasn't with him because I felt the need to be with somebody. It was nice having him there with me, though. It was nice.

"So what were you, Akito, and Makoto talking about earlier?" I asked Jackson curiously as we were nearing the end of the meal. I nibbled on a rice ball as I waited for his answer.

Jackson looked at me with that mischievous glint in his eyes again. "Makoto really wants this to be a special night for Keiko. He has a surprise planned for her."

That sounded all kinds of interesting to me. "Do you want to let me in on the surprise?" I asked, pushing my plate away and leaning forward so I could hear better if he chose to divulge the information.

Jackson looked over with a knowing smile full to the brim with a secret. "Actually, I don't have to tell you. I'm pretty sure you're about to find out.

With a lifting of my brows, I followed his gaze and saw Makoto as he stood up. He looked nervous. He looked more nervous than I'd ever seen him look a day in his life. He looked even more nervous than he had the first time Keiko had talked him into performing in the band. Makoto cleared his throat and everybody in the room turned their attention to him. I had no idea what Makoto was up to, but I knew that he wasn't one to make speeches. Whatever he was about to say was probably going to be meaningful, but I was positive it was going to be brief. Therefore, I didn't want to miss a second of it.

"I would like to thank everybody for coming today for Keiko's birthday. It means a lot to have all of her most important people here for this. It's an. . .uh. . .it's an important, uh, day. It's one of the most important day of our lives." He started tugging at the collar of his shirt like he was hot. Or being strangled. Keiko shot him a confused look and rubbed his arm. He seemed to calm back down immediately. "As you all know, Keiko and I have been together for a long time."

 _Click_. Something clicked in my head right then as he said that. All of a sudden, it was coming together in my mind. I knew exactly what Makoto was up to and I was amazed I hadn't figured it out sooner. I had, after all, known this was coming since the beginning of summer when Akito had decided to let me in on Makoto's big secret. My eyes sought out Akito and I found him sitting across from Courtney. He wasn't looking at her, though. He was returning my gaze with bright, happy eyes. He smiled at me widely and gave me a single nod. My mouth dropped open and I directed my attention back to Makoto.

"I'm not really a man of many words. I think that the words that matter most, though," he said as he turned and gazed down at Keiko. He sounded his usual gruff self, but he sounded infinitely tender at the same time. It was a startlingly beautiful combination. "are 'I love you.'" I knew the second Makoto's brief speech was done because he immediately dropped to one knee in front of Keiko and pulled a box out of his pocket. "K-Keiko. Will you marry. . .me?"

Makoto wasn't an exhibitionist. He didn't like having any extra attention on him. In fact, he kind of despised having attention sent his way. He was nervous from both being in the spotlight _and_ putting his heart out there on the line. Yet there he was in front of a room full of people down on one knee with a ring in his hand. He'd done all of this for Keiko to make all of this special for her. He'd spent quite a while planning it so everything would be just as it was for her. And I knew before Keiko even started crying and nodding her head enthusiastically that he'd gotten everything absolutely right.

"Yes," she said tearfully as she threw her arms around him.

The whole room broke into applause then. The relief on Makoto's face was obvious before it gave way to elation. I found myself close to tears, too, feeling beyond happy that this was finally happening for Keiko. I remembered the concerns she'd had that day we'd gone swimming and it had been so difficult then for me not to tell her, even if I could take a secret to the grave if I really wanted to. Seeing how everything had just played out, holding onto that particular secret had definitely been worth it.

After Keiko and Makoto's families had the opportunity to congratulate the happy couple and talk about how ecstatic and excited they were about everything, I met up with my squad. Colby, Willow, and I left our dates and gathered together to give Keiko a group hug.

"I'm so happy for you!" Colby said as she tried not to squeeze Keiko as tightly as she did me considering Keiko was more delicate than I was.

"Congratulations, Keiko! It's finally happened," I told her as I gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Let us see the rock!" Willow demanded then and we all started laughing. We formed a little circle and Keiko stuck her hand out in the middle. "Oh wow!" Willow breathed. "I want one of those!" She looked meaningfully in Zhen's direction, but then she wrinkled her nose and looked a little dejected for a second. She pulled herself back together immediately and smiled happily at Keiko.

The ring was beautiful. It had Zhen's artistry all over it so I knew that he was the one who made it. I left the circle and went over to Makoto. I put a hand on his arm and said "You did great." I was referring to everything from the party to the proposal. "Nice speech, by the way."

"Thank you," he replied brusquely with the smallest hint of a smile. He'd managed to get the top two buttons of his shirt undone and he looked like he was breathing a lot more easily now. I patted his shoulder before I moved on. I didn't want to heap any more attention on him than he could take at the moment because he'd already endured a lot and he looked like he was on edge.

By the time the party came to an end, my friends and I had convened to gush over the ring no less than five times. I'd shot Ignacio a dozen unpleasant looks. I'd also received numerous compliments on the decorations. Konohana was really an interesting place these days. Fresh on the heels of the birth of the century was the engagement everybody had been waiting over a decade for.

I roped Jackson into staying late with me to take down the decorations and put all the tables back where they belonged. He helped me move the extras into storage. Makoto had assured Ying that he would be back at the end of the day to clean everything else up considering he was the person who threw the party. I had a feeling that Keiko was going to show up with him since I was pretty sure she didn't plan on letting him out of her sight anytime soon.

The news spread so fast that by the time I made it home, everybody in the house was aware of everything that happened at the tea house. I felt a little put-out that I didn't get to come home and tell everybody about it considering I'd been there and I felt it was my duty to dish on the party. I guess it was my own fault for not going straight home after the party and giving somebody else the opportunity to swoop in and spill the beans.

The next week was eventful, too, though there weren't new births or engagements going on. One beautiful carrot rose above all others at the Fall Crop festival to take home first prize, which happened to be Flourite. That carrot was carefully and tenderly grown by me with my own two hands. My biggest competition at the festival was Keiko, but she was already a winner as it was, all things considered. The next day, the Fall Animal festival arrived and Mo the sheep brought home first prize for our farm. I attended Howard's birthday party with Jackson and both of our families were there.

I expected it to be weird. Like, really weird. I expected to walk into the cafe and feel like I was guilty of incest as I stood there with Jackson in the midst of our families. I expected to feel a little ashamed, honestly. I didn't though. Instead, I felt shockingly normal. There was nothing ordinary about the situation, and yet it felt ordinary. It was a curious feeling and I wasn't sure what to make of it. Do you want to know how a lot of my time were spent the next few days? It was spent with me trying to figure out what, exactly, that lack of awkwardness and guilt meant.

As I stood in front of my bulletin board, I stared at a picture of me and Jackson that Makoto had grudgingly taken of us about seven years before. We looked so much younger, for sure. In so many ways, we were different from the people we were back then even though in many ways we were very much the same. Time was a curious thing. It did things that one could not even expect as it passed right on by.

The last few weeks had gone by and I realized that I'd gained a strange sense of peace about the entire situation that certainly hadn't been there before. Being at Howard's party with Jackson hadn't been weird because he really wasn't my cousin. And if he really wasn't my cousin then, I realized, the relationship we were in was okay. There was no weird feeling about being his girlfriend because there was no reason to feel weird.

Jackson was a patient guy. He'd told me before that he would be patient and he had been. He'd literally left the next decisive move up to me considering he hadn't tried to kiss me since that night in my room. The most kissing he'd done had been on my forehead. Jackson gave me the time I needed to accept what was going on between us and somehow it had worked. Yeah, time really was a curious thing, wasn't it?

There was a knock on my door and I looked away from the bulletin board. "Come in," I said as I waited to see who would be coming through the door.

My mom opened it up and took a couple of steps inside. "Vi, did you remember to get everything sorted out for your father for tomorrow?"

It was the last day of fall. Winter was going to literally arrive over night and that meant all of the flowers at the shop were going to be switched the next day. It was always a busy day for my father. Usually my dad would have taken care of all of that, but he'd had to go out of town a day early to get some things taken care of. It was Sunday and he was usually only out of town on Mondays. I'd assured Oliver before he went to spend the night at Dale's house that I would get everything taken care of before the next morning when dad came back.

"I forgot," I admitted reluctantly. I had been busy all day long since the Pumpkin Festival had been that day. Lots of children had showed up at our door wanting treats. The most memorable was definitely little Violet Aki. Cheryl had brought her over and then they'd stayed a while and I had the opportunity to fawn over my little goddaughter. After that, my mind had been so full of thinking about what was going on with Jackson that I'd found it hard to think about much else. "I'll go over there now and make sure everything is checking out right. When dad gets home in the morning with the flowers he got while he was gone, everything else will be right on track," I assured her as I located the shoes I'd been wearing earlier and put them back on.

I left my bedroom and grabbed my jacket, slipping it on as she followed me out and shut my door behind her. "I'm going to go ahead and go to bed. Don't stay out too late."

It was already after ten and I was surprised she wasn't already sleeping. I probably should have already been asleep since I'd planned on getting up early and doing my morning run even though the thought of doing it in the snow I was sure I'd wake up to wasn't appealing. On second thought, perhaps I should just put off my morning runs until spring came back around.

"It's already too late, mom," I said with a laugh as I opened up the door. "See you in the morning."

As I made it to the end of the driveway, I realized I'd forgotten to grab a scarf. The cool night air seemed to know that and it was as if it were aiming directly at my neck because of this. I flipped the collar of my jacket up and zipped said jacket up as far as it would go. Then I put on some lip gloss that I found in my pocket because I didn't want to give my lips the opportunity to even begin to chap. Bluebell was quiet and peaceful under the moonlight as I made my way down the deserted street. When I made it to the shop I gave it the once over and saw that everything there looked okay. My next task was to go into the stock room and make sure everything we needed for the next day was there and accounted for.

The cafe closed at ten so the door was locked. Luckily, I knew exactly where to find the key as I dug in the soil of the flowers to the left of the door. I put the key back after I unlocked the door and entered the cafe as quietly as I could. The lights were off so I figured Howard was already in bed. I knew the cafe like the back of my hand so I had no problem at all making my way to the door at the left and entering the room I needed. I flipped the switch and turned the light on. The room smelled strongly of the flowers sitting inside it. It was a beautiful fragrance that brought my father to mind considering he always smelled like flowers. I grabbed his clipboard and a pen before I got to work making sure everything was as it should be. To my relief, I saw that there weren't any problems and everything checked out okay.

I have no clue if he'd just been extremely quiet or if I'd been so engrossed in what I'd been doing that I didn't hear him, but when I turned around Jackson was in the doorway.

"Jackson!" I whispered, just about jumping out of my skin as I hugged the clipboard to my chest. "Oh my gosh. Are you laughing? Jackson, that wasn't funny!" I chastised as he stood there in the doorway laughing as quietly as possible.

"I'm sorry, Violet, really. It's just. . .the look on your face was priceless," he told me as he clutched his sides while he tried to control himself.

I sat the clipboard down, but I threw the pen at him. It hit his chest and fell to the floor. Unfortunately, I had to go over there and retrieve the pen I just threw because it was my dad's. I sat the pen down next to his book about flowers and perfumes before I turned back around and looked at Jackson. He was still there in the doorway.

"I should have known you'd still be up this time of night," I said as I shooed him out of the doorway. I turned the light out and closed the door behind me.

I noticed that when he'd come downstairs, he'd turned one of the overhead lights on. Since there was only one of them on, the light in the cafe was kind of dim. It was enough to see with, though.

"You know I'm always up this time of night. I'm surprised to find you out and about, though. What were you up to in there?" he asked me as I walked around to the other side of the counter and leaned against it. He followed me.

"I forgot to come in earlier and make sure that everything was ready for my dad's shop in the morning. The first of the new season is always busy for him, you know," I explained.

"I see."

We both got kind of quiet then and I stared at him thoughtfully. He stared back and looked at me as if he were wondering what was going on in my head. I considered many things as I stared at him. One thought and then another filtered through my head as I tried to come to a decision. I thought about everything that had led up to this point. I thought of every moment I'd had with Jackson from the time he'd put a flower in my hair on Bluebell's Flower Day up until the time we'd spent together at Howard's birthday party. My thoughts lingered on some moments more than others, like our discussion about the constellations and our first date at the Harvest Goddess pond. My mind kept going back to that moment in my room when he told me he'd wait for me and I realized right then that I had come to a decision.

I took a deep breath before I said "Jackson?"

"What's up?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side, considering me rather seriously since I'd just done some rather intense staring at him while I thought all of that out.

I tugged on his shirt and brought him a little closer. He was surprised, but the gleam in his eyes let me know that he was certainly happy about it. "I've been doing some thinking. I've been doing a lot of thinking, actually, about you and me. Us."

"I like where this is going," he admitted with a little grin.

"Shhh," I said as I put a finger to his lips. "Let me finish. Anyway, I've been doing a lot of thinking. You told me before that you'd be patient and you have. You really have. And I appreciate that. I've decided, though, that the time for waiting. . ." I trailed off and swallowed a little nervously before I continued. "The time for waiting is over, okay? You put the ball in my court, so to speak, and it's time I make the shot." He'd waited patiently for weeks for a kiss and I finally felt ready to give it.

"What?"

I hopped up on the counter behind me and looked at him meaningfully. He seemed to understand what was going on pretty quickly because he stepped closer to me and put his hands on either side of me on the counter. Being in that position with him reminded me of that early morning we'd spent together at the flowerbed, the day he'd first asked me out. The lighting had been dim then, too, and I'd been sitting while he was standing. The parallels were kind of funny.

"Are you sure?" Jackson asked quietly.

"Smile for me,will you?" I asked. Jackson seemed a little befuddled, but he smiled anyway. When that dimple made an appearance, I leaned forward and brushed a soft kiss over it. When I leaned away I quietly said "I'm sure."

The strange thing was, at the moment I said I was sure, a pair of golden eyes flashed through my mind. Those eyes weren't supposed to be there. They weren't welcome there in that moment. Yet they'd made an appearance anyway. I pushed them to the back of my mind and focused on being present in the moment. I was with Jackson.

He put one hand on my waist and the other on my back, pulling me a little closer, but that was all he did. I realized he was waiting on me, giving me a chance to back out if I wanted to. I wove my fingers into that silvery-white hair of his and brought my face closer, half an inch away. My stomach was fluttering like some dragonflies had joined the butterflies and they were having a dance contest in there.

' _I'm glad I put some lip gloss on while I was walking over here_ ,' was the last thing I thought before I closed the rest of the small distance between us and met his lips with my own.

Jackson responded to the kiss immediately, pulling me even closer and for a few seconds I felt something there in that kiss. After those few seconds, though, something weird happened. It was like a switch had been thrown into the 'off' position. The chemistry I'd felt coursing between us during those three or so seconds fizzled. It fell flat like a bottle of soda that had been opened and sat aside for half the day without anybody drinking it. We broke apart, then, both of us looking at each other as if neither of us had any clue whatsoever as to what had just transpired.

"Maybe we should," I hedged uncertainly.

"Uh, yeah," Jackson agreed before he leaned forward and we kissed each other again.

That kiss wasn't any better than the first. In fact, it was worse. Kissing him the second time felt even more wrong and awkward than it had the first time.

"Oh wow," I mumbled as my eyebrows furrowed

"Third time's the charm?" Jackson asked, looking as dejected as I felt.

We tried again and if I hadn't been certain the first couple of times, I was certain after that third kiss. That third kiss had definitely confirmed it. Kissing Jackson was like kissing my family. It was like kissing my brother or my. . .When we pulled apart that time, Jackson was looking down and I closed the gap between us again. This time, though, all I did was rest my forehead against his.

"Jackson?" I whispered, somehow not being able to raise my voice any higher. That was probably a good thing considering Howard was asleep upstairs and it'd be awkward if we woke him up.

"Yeah, Violet?" he queried just as quietly. His voice was thick with the same emotions I was currently feeling.

"I'm not sure how to say this." I paused for a moment before I continued. "I-I, think you're my. . .cousin."

"Vi?"

"Yeah, Jack?" I asked.

I looked into his peridot eyes, so close to mine, as he said "I think you're my cousin, too."


	23. Post-Breakup Violet is Scary

**Author's Note:** I felt rather sad as I wrote the second half of the previous chapter. Surprisingly sad. Although I had planned on Violet and Jackson's relationship coming to an end and knew exactly how that was going to happen, I still wasn't really prepared for writing what was in my head. I also have to say that this chapter marks the beginning of winter in this story. I'd originally planned on there being a more even distribution of chapters per season, but that didn't happen. Spring was kind of short and winter somehow ended up being the longest running season in this story. There were a lot of things I saved to happen toward the end of the story and I ended up writing way more than I'd anticipated and at this point, I'm still writing when I thought I'd be done by now. Here comes winter!

* * *

The funny thing about coming to the realization that my boyfriend really was my cousin was that it had been a legitimate relationship that I found myself mourning. That was why, the next day, I opted out of working on the farm. That morning, when my mother came into my room to check on me, I told her I was skipping out today, which is truly a testament to how awful I felt about everything. I hadn't even wanted any down time when I'd been sick before, yet here I was skipping out on work because of what happened with Jackson. That immediately made little alarm bells ring because she knew I despised having to miss an opportunity to help her for any reason. Luckily, it was Tuesday and that meant the seed shop was closed so all of our planting would have to wait until the next day. That meant there was significantly less work to do for the day and she assured me she'd be fine with doing it all herself.

I felt relieved and guilty at the same time. I wanted nothing more than to get up, get out the door, and help her. Well, I certainly wasn't fond of the idea of going out in the snow that I could see out my window, but I did want to go out and help her. Still, though, I was relieved because at the moment I did not want to show my face to the world, even if that meant just stepping outside my front door. My mom thought I was sick again and didn't know the truth yet. I wanted to tell her about my breakup with Jackson and I would tell her. If I told her that morning, though, then she would put off doing the things she needed to get done to talk to me and I didn't want that considering I was already leaving her in the lurch to get everything done on her own. I decided I'd tell her when she came home for the day. She was my mom. I needed her input and any comfort she would provide even if I was an adult. Really, I was grateful to even have her to give me that kind of support considering she didn't have her mother when she was my age for such things. I was just going to have to wait to receive said comfort and support.

With my mom busy, my dad at work, and Oliver at school I was able to stare up at the ceiling of my bedroom and wallow in misery. My mind kept going back to the night before, when I'd been nearly alone in the dim cafe with Jackson. After spending so long agonizing over our relationship, finally accepting our circumstances, and then taking the plunge I. . .I realized that to me Jackson really was my cousin.

' _Yep, he's definitely my cousin_ ,' I thought as I pulled at my hair out of frustration. My mind kept replaying that first kiss we had. It replayed the second kiss. It replayed the third kiss. All three of those kisses felt like I was kissing my cousin. The funny thing was, up until that point, Jackson and I'd definitely had chemistry between us. I had felt something toward him before that first kiss. Maybe I'd been fooling myself the entire time. Maybe I'd been trying so hard to see him as a man rather than my cousin that I blinded myself to the truth I had known in my heart since day one: Whether we were related or not, Jackson was still my cousin.

I didn't feel disturbed or disgusted by the fact that we'd gone out and kissed, no. After all, there was no blood relation tying us together. If there had been then obviously the relationship wouldn't have happened at all. But no. I had no reason to feel disturbed or disgusted. In the end, I felt that even if my father hadn't spent years drilling into my head that Jackson was my cousin, we still would have ended up where we were. We would have ended up right where we were because things just weren't meant to be like that between us. I was convinced that I could have met Jackson on a street in the city, gone out on a few dates with him, and then when we finally kissed I still would have felt this way. He wouldn't have been my cousin, then, if he'd been a stranger, but he probably would have morphed into. . .I don't know, a surrogate brother or a really good friend who I could go to for advice about other guys. That was the truth and that was how I was going to explain it all to my father because I knew he would initially try to blame himself for the breakup. It wasn't his fault, though. It wasn't anybody's fault. Jackson and I simply weren't right for each other and that was how it was. I was going to make sure he understood that.

None of that made it hurt any less, though. And it hurt. This was, hands down, the absolute worst I had ever felt after coming to the end of an actual relationship. I'd never felt this bad after losing any other boyfriend. The funny thing was, as bad as it did hurt, it didn't hurt as bad as it had when I'd left for college and had to say goodbye to Akito. That feeling, for me, had been the lowest of the low. This realization was what made me feel guilty. I hadn't touched the breakfast my mom had brought me and it grew cold. After about an hour or so, though, my appetite came back with a vengeance. It came back swift and furious, like I hadn't eaten in five years.

That was what prompted me to go into the kitchen and attempt to eat my family out of house and home. I was suddenly craving all sorts of dishes, none of which logically even went together. What I was seeking was a variety that, to people who weren't named Violet Drayton and weren't post-breakup, would be considered disgusting. It wasn't a tasteful and endearing variety like Keiko's birthday dinner. In my head, french fries dipped in apple jam went with spicy curry. Those both went with onion soup as well as fried rice balls. And then there was the dessert, because at the end of a good unbalanced meal you needed dessert and I needed chocolate. I was in the process of stuffing my face with chocolate cookies when I heard a knock on the door.

With a groan, I dragged myself toward the front of the house and stared at the door. When a knock sounded again I seriously considered ignoring it until I heard "Violet, are you home?"

It was Colby's voice. I couldn't ignore Colby under any circumstances. So I walked over to the door and opened it up. Not one, but three people filed straight on into the living room. Colby, Willow, and Keiko strolled on in and I shut the door behind them, frowning at the frigid air that had followed them inside. It was like winter was offended I hadn't gone outside to say hello. I'm not sure why winter was so surprised considering I'd never made it a secret that I didn't consider winter a friend. Winter could stay outside and be cold and leave me alone. Hmph!

"Surprise! We thought we'd come over and get a little wedding planning done today if you aren't busy," Keiko said as she went over to hang her coat up.

"This is going to be great," Willow said, going over to join her. "I'm so excited! I'm going to think of this as practice for when I have to plan my own wedding. I mean, once I finally get Zhen to admit that he's madly in love with me and age ain't nothing but a number, baby!"

"What is that weird smell all through your house? It smells like somebody threw a whole bunch of weird food into a pot together and stirred it up. And then they waved a paper fan while it was over the heat and did their best to spread the smell of doom across the house like a plague." I noticed Colby was holding a basket and I was slightly curious as to what was inside. "By the way, I brought over this cheesecake for us to eat while we're getting some things figured out and. . ." she trailed off when she finally looked at me. "Whoa."

Keiko and Willow stopped what they were doing and took their first real looks at me, too.

"Uh," was all Willow could get out.

"Wow," Keiko said hesitantly.

Colby, of course, was the first one to get a complete sentence out. "Violet Clara Drayton! What in the world happened to you?!"

"Huh?" was all I could think to say since I wasn't sure what she was referring to.

"Violet, have you seen yourself today?" Keiko asked.

"Nope," I said honestly, really not caring how I looked at the moment.

Willow strolled purposefully into my room and returned with a hand-held mirror I kept in one of the top drawers of my dresser. She pointed it at me and I finally got a good look at myself. My hair, once again, looked like some kind of creature had made a nest in it. My pajamas were all kinds of rumpled and disheveled. I was pretty sure I'd spilled some onion soup down on the front of my top. There may have been a smear of apple jam between two buttons. Oh, and apparently I'd really attacked those chocolate cookies because there was chocolate all around my mouth, like I'd put on some brown lipstick and them rubbed it all over the place.

"Oh, this. I look fine," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand as I walked toward the kitchen.

"Oh, this?" Willow repeated with disbelief.

"You think you look fine?" Colby asked as she followed me, hot on my heels.

"Violet, dear, um," Keiko said, trying really hard to figure out the right thing to say to me at the moment. "Are you okay?"

I plopped down at the table, put one leg over the other on top of it, and grabbed another cookie. "Yeah, I'm totally fine. Why?"

"This explains the smell," Colby said with a seriously scrunched up nose as she indicated the plates scattered across the table with the remnants of my feast on them. "Vi, what happened?"

"Nothing," I said as I attacked the cookie in my hand. "Hey, didn't you say you brought cheesecake?" My expression brightened at the mere thought of showing that cheesecake who was the boss. _I_ was the boss. I was the boss of cheesecake and any other food that dared to cross my path. Rawrr!

Colby yanked the basket out of my reach and looked at me in a calculating way. I didn't like that look at all. It suggested that Colby thought she'd gained an advantage and was about to exploit it. "If you want this cheesecake, Violet, then you have to tell us what's wrong."

I groaned rather unhappily. I wanted that cheesecake. I _really_ wanted that cheesecake. After letting out a woeful sigh full of my dissatisfaction, I said "Jackson and I broke up."

"What?!" Colby blew up.

"How did this happen? Oh Violet, no wonder you're in such a state," Keiko said sympathetically.

"Tell us _everything_ right now!" Willow demanded as she put her hands down on the table and leaned close to my face. A second or two later, she leaned back and waved her hand in front of her.

"And then maybe you can brush your teeth," Colby admonished as she got a whiff of my onion soup breath, too. "Wow, Vi. Just wow."

As I rolled my eyes I said to them as sarcastically as I could "You three are a real blessing to my ego. The Harvest Goddess really did me a favor sending you over here."

They each pulled out a chair and sat down with me at the table. Colby sat the basket in the middle of the table and I made a mad grab at it, like I expected her to pull it away at the last second. She didn't. I opened up the basket and pulled out the coveted cheesecake. I stared down at it as if I wasn't fully understanding the completeness in front of me. It was whole. It wasn't sliced. It needed to be sliced. Oh, that's right. I needed a knife! Then I could slice it and eat it! I looked over toward the counter and Willow jumped up before I could, wrapping her hands around a knife.

"Here, uh, let me, Violet," she said as she started slicing the cheesecake.

She looked like she expected me to cut myself or somebody else. I was deeply upset, but I wasn't _that_ upset. I wasn't about to do any physical damage to myself or anybody else.

I picked up a slice of cheesecake and stuffed it into my mouth. While I was chewing, Keiko put her hand over my free one and said "Will you please tell us what happened with Jackson?"

I looked over at Keiko, nice and sweet and eternally caring Keiko, and I found myself suddenly unable to hold anything back. As soon as I swallowed the rest of that slice of cheesecake, I told them the whole story. By the time I was finished, half of the cheesecake was gone and I had delicious crumbs on the front of my shirt. Colby reached over with a frown and knocked some of the crumbs off.

"So yeah, that's what's up," I told them as I leaned back in my chair and let out a dejected little sigh.

"Violet, I'm so sorry," Keiko said with what can only be described as a guilty expression on her face. I saw a sheen to her eyes that suggested tears weren't far off. "Here I am trying to come over and discuss wedding plans with you and your relationship has just fallen apart."

"What? You have nothing to feel guilty about, okay? Don't you ever apologize for being happy and feeling loved. You deserve every ounce of happiness you have. I don't want you to let what I'm going through put a damper on such an important time in your life."

"But," she began.

"No really, I'm going to be fine, Keiko. I am. I'm really sad right now, but I know it's going to be alright. Before you know it, we'll all be sitting around a table together talking about your wedding and it's going to be great."

We heard the front door open and close and then "Violet?" my mother's voice called. I heard her open my bedroom door and then close it. "Violet, where are you? And what's with the smell in here?"

"We're in the kitchen, mom," I called out kind of weakly.

When she made it to the doorway she said "What's going on in here? Oh, hello ladies."

My friends said hi to her before they all stood up and pushed their chairs back under the table. "I think we're gonna go," Colby said, taking charge of the situation for me. "We can talk about this some more later, though, okay?"

"Sure," I agreed quietly. I knew Colby well enough to know she'd be back again later whether I wanted her to or not. I really loved her for that.

After we said our goodbyes and the front door shut behind them, my mom approached the table. She took the chair closest to mine and gazed at me with a look that was somewhere between concern and amusement. I was really confused as to why she looked so amused.

"You can be so much like me sometimes," she commented as she swatted some more crumbs off the front of my shirt.

"What do you mean?" I asked as her smile spread.

"I take it you're not actually sick today?" she questioned as she took one of my hands in hers and squeezed.

"Nope. I'm not sick in the traditional sense," I muttered.

"Is that so? How about you tell me what's going on then? Something happened, Violet. Is it Jackson?"

Well she sure hit the nail right on the head quite easily. "It's Jackson," I confirmed.

"Did you two break up?" She was giving me that mom look. You know, that motherly look full of understanding and patience and the promise that things will get better.

"Yep."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" she asked me, smoothing some hair back behind my ear and patting my cheek.

I took a deep breath and then launched into my story for the second time that day. I ended it with "And that's what led me to sitting here demolishing an entire cheesecake by myself." Because at that point, I'd finished off the rest of the cheesecake. I'd even shoved a whole piece into my mouth. Twice.

Strangely, my mom started smiling as if she found something funny. "So much like me," she commented again. When she saw the look on my face, she decided to take mercy on me and explain herself. "Violet, I know I've told you a lot of stories about when your father and I were young. Do you feel like hearing another?"

What did I have to lose? Her stories were always entertaining, at any rate, and I had a feeling this was one I hadn't heard before. "Sure. Why not?" I said with a shrug as I reached toward the empty plate to pick at the crumbs. My mom smacked my hand away from it and pushed it away. I frowned.

"What I haven't told you is that your father wasn't the only man in town who was interested in me," she admitted, giving me a secretive smile.

"What?!" I leaned forward and immediately gave her my complete attention. "There was more than one guy? Some guy other than dad had his eye on you? Who was it?"

"Well, in this case. . ." she started.

" _In this case_?" I interrupted.

"In this case," she continued as if I hadn't tried to cut in. "it was Kana."

I was mute for a minute as I digested this. Kana, _Akito's_ father, had the hots for my mother once upon a time? Kana, of all people? Akito's father, of all people, had to be the costar of this story? That news was almost more than I could handle. "Okay, uh, so yeah, Kana. What happened with Kana?"

She looked at me knowingly before she launched into her tale. "Let me start off by saying that I hadn't had any clue that Kana had feelings for me. I'd thought we were just friends hanging out, you know? Sure, he was a good looking guy and I was aware of that. And I'll admit we had our moments, but I didn't think it was like _that_ between us."

As handsome as Kana still was, I was sure he was certainly handsome back then. He couldn't possibly have been as handsome as my dad was, because I was pretty sure that was impossible, but still. . .

"I'm not sure exactly what triggered what happened next. Kana started acting a little weird, though. In hindsight, I can see that he was jealous. He was jealous of your father. He got this little attitude with me and I gave him the silent treatment until he finally came over and apologized. Kana even gave me an owl to show me how sorry he was. I forgave him and things were okay for a little bit, but then something set him off again."

"What happened?" I asked, feeling like I was watching one of my grandfather's favorite soap operas.

"I went to Cam's shop, but he was upset. He said he didn't want to talk to me. I could tell something was wrong so I pressed him on the issue a little. He really didn't want to tell me. He kept telling me how stupid the whole thing was, but he finally gave in and told me what happened. Apparently Kana walked all the way across the mountain, from Konohana to Bluebell, to stake a claim."

"Huh?"

"He went all the way to Bluebell to talk to your father about me. Talking turned into arguing because Kana claimed that I was _his_ girl and tried to warn your father away from me! I know it's ancient history and the two of them are friends now, but I still fume sometimes when I think about it." Mom looked truly irritated for a minute before she continued. "Your father wasn't having any of that. He stood his ground against Kana. I was so angry by the time he finished telling me the story, though. I was furious, actually. So I climbed up on Levi. Oh, Levi was my horse at the time. Levi was a girl, you know, and Kana thought that was a weird name choice for her, but I always thought Hayate was a weird name so. . ."

"Mom," I prompted to get her back on track.

"Oh, right. Anyway, I hopped up on Levi and rode her all the way back to Konohana, where I was living at the time. It started raining along the way and by the time I made it back to my farm it was pouring and I was soaked. I went home to drop Levi off before I went over to Kana's to confront him, but as fate would have it, he was waiting for me in front of my house! Once I got Levi back into the barn, I immediately confronted him. He followed me into the house and we argued about what he'd done. Then things got a little, uh, heated."

"Heated how?" I questioned curiously. She looked at me a little sheepishly and color entered her cheeks. "Ugh, _mom_!"

"What?" she asked me, her embarrassment giving way to humor. " _He_ kissed _me_! I'll spare you the details of that." Something told me those details were a little steamy and I was better off not knowing them. "When I broke the kiss I explained to him that he was my friend and he was attractive, but nothing could happen between us. By that point, my heart already belonged to your father even if I didn't know it quite yet."

This was actually much more interesting than my grandfather's favorite soap opera. "What did you do after that?"

"The very next day, I up and moved back to Bluebell. I needed space from Kana so I put a whole mountain between us. When I got back here, I changed into my pajamas and I decided to stuff myself until I couldn't fit into my pants the next day. I cooked up whatever I had a taste for and I didn't care if it went together or not. I mean, spring rolls and macaroni and cheese don't go together, but that didn't matter."

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the plates around me. I had essentially done exactly the same thing my mother had. "I'm starting to see a parallel here."

"For dessert, I had a plate full of chocolate cookies," she told me as she motioned toward the plate of cookies that still had a couple of stragglers on it.

"You don't say?"

"Then," she told me as pointed toward where the cheesecake once existed. "Laney and Georgia happened to come over. I didn't look any better than you when they showed up. And you'll never guess what they brought with them." She didn't wait before she told me. "Cheesecake."

Something echoed in my mind then, a memory of something that hadn't made sense to me at the time, but it was starting to make sense now. "Mom?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

"Do you remember earlier in the year when Laney brought you over a cheesecake as a birthday gift?"

"Of course," she confirmed, obviously wondering where I was going with this current line of questioning.

"Well, I saw her at the cafe before she came over to see you and she told me she was going to bring over that cheesecake. She said something weird to me, though, that I didn't understand at the time. She told me to make sure you didn't shove an entire piece of cheesecake into your mouth all at once."

"Did she?" she asked, suddenly looking like she was a million miles away in the midst of a memory.

"While you were eating that cheesecake all those years ago after the Kana incident, did you shove an entire piece in your mouth? Is that what Laney was referring to?"

"Like mother, like daughter" she confirmed with that amusement returning yet again. She then put her hands on my cheeks and looked me in the eye. "Listen, Violet. I know our situations are different, even if our reactions were similar. I want you to know, though, that things really are going to get better. It's going to be alright. You're going to bounce back from this. Kana wasn't the one for me. Perhaps Jackson isn't the one for you. Ultimately, I ended up with the man I was meant to be with and I know that someday you'll be with whoever you're meant to be with, too."

She said that last part with such absolute certainty that I wasn't sure what to do with those words. She was sure I was going to end up with the man I was supposed to be with. The problem was, the guy who I'd always thought I was supposed to end up with was in love with another woman. And that woman's name was Courtney.


	24. A Surprise Visitor

The next day I got back to work. I only left the farm long enough to run over to Konohana and get the seeds we needed. The selection of crops to grow in winter was small, but we always grew a lot of them even if variety was lacking. The only person I talked to during my little outing was Keiko, who was relieved to see that I had taken a bath and had brushed my teeth for good measure. Keiko wasn't a gossip queen, but I was pretty sure she'd make it a point to tell Colby I wasn't suffering from onion breath anymore if she saw her before I did. I assured her that I was ready to meet up with everybody and help with the wedding planning whenever she wanted.

At least the couple had achieved one thing so far. They'd set a date. Keiko and Makoto planned to get married on New Year's Eve. Before I headed back home, I remembered to check the board for the request Nori promised me and was pleased to see it was there. I had anticipated what she'd ask for and luckily I had brought it with me. I had doubled back to the seed shop and asked Keiko to pass the wool along to her mother. Then I retreated back to my house and the warmth it provided because I wasn't quite willing to accept that it was winter and freezing cold yet.

When I finally did make my way into Bluebell again I felt like everybody's eyes were on me even if somebody's back was turned to me. They had imaginary eyes on the back of their heads that were watching me. They were hiding behind buildings and peeking out staring at me. I knew I was being dramatic, paranoid, self-conscious, and that I was completely imagining all of that stuff, but I couldn't help it. That's why, when somebody put their hand on my shoulder when I made my way back to the road outside of town, I just about jumped out of my skin.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down," I heard from a voice I certainly wasn't in the mood to hear. I turned around and I was face-to-face with Courtney. For somebody who was technically living in Konohana, she sure was in Bluebell a lot.

"Courtney," I said lightly, doing my best to be polite. "What's up?"

Courtney blinked with faux innocence a couple of times before smiling at me with that manufactured sweetness of hers. When she'd first come to town, I'd tried to give her the benefit of doubt and take her at face value. Since then she'd made sure that I wouldn't be making that mistake again. "I just wanted to tell you that I heard about your breakup. It's really unfortunate. I'm sorry."

I didn't buy her sympathy for a second, but I decided to play along. "Thank you. You win some, you lose some." I was hoping that if I acted blasé and made it seem like it hadn't been a big deal then she'd leave me be. "Now, if you'll excuse me I. . ."

"You know, I'm sure you'll find somebody else," Courtney continued as if she hadn't even heard me. "After all, there are plenty of other fish in the sea. You know, I've done a lot of fishing, Violet. I found this really wonderful fish once upon a time. It had these beautiful _red_ scales. You know, the color of Akito's hair, more or less?"

I recognized that last bit for what it was and it was her throwing some of my words from the Fireworks Festival back in my face. I narrowed my eyes at her while I clenched my hands at my sides. The more time that went on, the more my control seemed to be slipping in regards to Courtney. She didn't know me and she didn't know that if she kept pressing my buttons the way she'd been then. . .

"Anyway, so I baited my hook and I caught this fish." She motioned her hands as if she were reeling in a fish, her eyes never leaving mine the entire time. Meanwhile, I was standing there doing my very best impression of my father, the look he made when he was coolly assessing somebody. "I put it in a beautiful little aquarium and I took such good care of it. It had everything a fish could want. One day, though, my beautiful fish decided to leave the aquarium. When I finally found my fish again it had jumped into a sad little bowl. I _did_ find it again, though, and I'm going to put it back in my aquarium soon."

When she paused in her little speech I decided to take advantage of that opportunity. "That's amazing Courtney. I mean, truly. After all, I never would have pegged you for a woman who knew the first thing about fishing. It seems there is _so much_ I don't know about you yet. I think I should make more of an effort because I'm so eager to know even more about you." Every word was dripping with sarcasm. We both knew what kind of fishing Courtney was talking about and it wasn't the literal kind that happened up on the mountain. "I'll give you a piece of advice, though, Court. There's only so much fishing you can do with your pole before all of the little fishies realize they've been swimming around that same bait and then none of the fish will even go near that hook."

Courtney looked angered momentarily before she gave me a sly little smile. "Haven't you been paying attention, though, Violet? I caught the fish I want so I don't need to do anymore fishing. I'm going to get my fish back in its aquarium and that will be that." Courtney had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and her ears were exposed to the cold. They were red. I wasn't sure if that was from anger or the cold. At any rate, I hoped they would freeze off. "I guess the point I've been trying to make this entire time is that there are plenty of fish out there in the sea, Violet. Don't try snatching them from other people's bowls."

At that moment, I knew that I was pretty close to losing my cool. Courtney seriously did not know that she was standing on a tightrope at the moment. My emotions were still kind of all over the place after my breakup with Jackson and she was doing a little too much in the way of pushing. I kept trying to keep in mind the promise I'd made to myself that I would do better for Akito. Part of that meant I had to endure Courtney for his sake, even if I found her insufferable. The problem was, though, she seemed to be doing her very best to make me break that promise.

Before I could do something that I may or may not regret, though, I felt a hand on my shoulder. And then there was a voice speaking. "Is this the infamous Courtney?"

I seriously thought I might be hallucinating because it had been a long time since I'd last heard that voice. It was a voice I hadn't heard since way back in spring. I looked back over my shoulder and saw her standing there, looking just as beautiful as she had the last time I'd seen her. The bouncy dark brown spiral curls were longer than they'd been before. Her skin was just as golden brown as I'd last seen it. She never got pale and came by that skin tone naturally. Standing this close, I could see that the eyebrow she'd told me she accidentally shaved off had genuinely grown back. Her chocolate eyes were sweeping over Courtney, sizing her up. She looked every bit as polished and sleek as Courtney if not more so. I realized then that I was witnessing a showdown between city girls. It was Courtney versus Marissa.

' _Welcome to the show, ladies and gentlemen. Grab some popcorn and take a seat._ '

I probably would've been able to stop Marissa from giving Courtney a piece of her mind if she hadn't happened upon us mid-argument, just like I'd managed to deter Colby. Unfortunately for Courtney, at this point, there wasn't a chance of holding Marissa back.

"Take it from somebody else who has done a lot of fishing in their time, too," Marissa said, her voice dripping even more fake sweetness than Courtney's had. "If that fish of yours had been as happy as you thought, it wouldn't have jumped out your aquarium the first time. If that fishy jumped once, there's no guarantee it won't jump again. I mean, after all, you don't strike me as the type who knows how to get your fish and _keep_ it." My heart was soaring. Like. . .it was up in the air flying around with the birds. "Oh, and by the way, I really think that since it's _your_ aquarium we're talking here, that fish is _definitely_ going to jump again. No fish wants to swim around in polluted water."

Courtney looked absolutely livid. Marissa sent a 'what are you gonna do about it' look at Courtney. She looked from one of us to the other, looking at me accusingly like I'd somehow summoned Marissa and unleashed her like an attack dog. I gave Courtney a little shrug while I tried really hard not to smile. Courtney turned her back on us with a little huff before she started stomping away.

Once she was gone, I turned toward Marissa and said "Oh my Goddess! M! I can't believe you're here." I launched myself into her arms and nearly knocked her over. "What are you doing here?!"

She squeezed me tightly, though nowhere near as tightly as Colby did at times. Marissa simply didn't have the strength in those slender arms of hers. "Why are you so surprised, Vi? You've been telling me I should come visit you ever since you left and now that I have some time, here I am!" We let go of each other and she took a step back before spinning around. She ended her spin with a flourish and then put her hands on her hips in a little pose. "How do I look?"

"Goigeous, dawling, goigeous," I said with a strange little accent I heard on some television show one time back in the city. I twirled around and when I stopped, I popped one hip to the side and put my hand on that hip, doing a little pose of my own. "How do _I_ look?"

Marissa stood there and tapped a finger against her lips as she considered me. "Hmm," she said as she deliberated. "Hmm. Hmmmmmm. _Hmmmmmmm_." She was really dragging it out. I fought the urge to fidget. "You know, I honestly expected you to look kind of. . . _you know_. But this small town country style is totally adorable. It really suits you!" I could tell she wasn't pulling my leg and I found myself feeling inexplicably relieved, as if getting Marissa's approval had truly been important.

"I'm so happy you're here! Oh my gosh, we have a lot to talk about. I have so much to fill you in on," I told her as I held both of her hands in my own and fought the urge to jump up and down in delight.

One carefully groomed and blessedly whole eyebrow lifted as she said "What? You mean more stuff has happened since I got that last letter from you?" She sounded kind of disbelieving.

"Marissa, you have no idea. There is always something happening around here You'd be surprised."

"Oh? Has something juicy happened between you and your new boyfriend?" she asked me as she strolled toward where she'd abandoned her bag in favor of intervening on my behalf with Courtney. I didn't need anybody else to fight my battle with Courtney, but I was grateful that I had so many friends who would do so in a heartbeat. It made me feel so loved. I focused on that thought and tried to forget altogether that she'd mentioned the man who was my cousin, but became my boyfriend, but was no longer my boyfriend and was suddenly once again kinda sorta my cousin, but I wasn't entirely sure about where we stood at the moment. And wow, that was a really long and slightly confusing sentence. . .

"You took a taxi here, right? Geez, M, where did it drop you off? You didn't have to walk too far in the snow, did you?" I asked, remembering the distance we'd had to travel in the wagon from where the taxi had dropped me off when I came home. It hadn't been that long of a ride in the wagon, but it would definitely have taken longer to go on foot. Knowing her, I simply couldn't imagine her walking all that way in the snow on that terrain. Glancing down at her shoes, I could see they definitely weren't suitable for that kind of a trip. Those were some killer heels she was wearing. Courtney probably would've been jealous if she'd looked down and gotten a glimpse of those.

"Actually, I may have charmed my driver into dropping me a little more close to here than you probably had yours do," she told me with humor written on her face.

"How close?" I probed while she reclaimed her bag and stood there with one hand grasping the handle.

"Close," she told me with a confident little grin that suggested she'd used charm to get her so close that I could probably find tire tracks in the snow if I went looking for them.

It was right on the tip of my tongue to scold her for not letting me know she was coming since I could have met her down that road with the wagon and charming the taxi driver wouldn't have been necessary. I decided against it, though, because that would've been the pot calling the kettle black, considering that I hadn't told anybody outside my family that I was coming home before and to everybody else it was a surprise.

"Anyway, I noticed that you kind of deflected my question," Marissa mentioned as she rolled the bag along behind her as she walked over to where I was standing by the steps up to the church. I noticed she was having trouble maneuvering it on the stone and dirt road. "You know I'm not the type to push you for information, Violet. You did say you had things to fill me in on, though, and I have the feeling that some of that has to do with Jackson."

Hearing his name kind of felt like a slap in the face to me. I cringed and I knew she noticed that but she chose not to comment on it. "I tell you what. How about we go back to my house and get you settled in. Then we can get into talking about this stuff. Okay?"

"Alright. I think I should probably get you somewhere warm pronto anyway. I mean, it's usually like you to. . .I don't know. You've kind of hibernated in winter for as long as I've known you. I'm surprised you're out walking around in the cold."

I smiled as I realized she'd essentially just compared me to a bear since they famously hibernate in winter. "I have a different kind of life here, one that requires me to put on my big girl pants and endure the cold weather. After all, the cows don't milk themselves in the morning come rain, sun, or even snow. That's what my mom always told me when I was young and didn't want to step foot out the door on winter mornings."

"Speaking of your mom, how is she? I can't wait to see her," Marissa said as I took her bag from her and picked it up. I figured it'd be easier since she'd been having trouble rolling it. "Whoa, Violet, that bag is heavy you know?"

"What? It's actually not that heavy," I informed her as I lowered it and brought it back up like I was lifting a weight. I remembered that ridiculously heavy suitcase we'd had trouble getting out to the sidewalk while we'd been waiting for the taxi when I was about to leave the city. That was then. Now I was back in shape. "Anyway, my mom is great. So are Oliver and my dad."

Marissa, who had been poking my arm trying to locate muscles gained from manual labor, immediately dropped her finger and got that giddy look in her eyes. "Ah, yes, your dad. Is he still as handsome as he was the last time I saw him?"

"Marissa!" I exclaimed as I smacked her arm. I knew my dad was hot. You know, in a more detached and observational way. I had eyes. The fact that she noticed my father was hot also had just always grossed me out. My mom, on the other hand, thought her infatuation was cute and asked if I could really blame her all things considered. Yes, yes I could.

"Alright. That's enough picking at you. I'll behave myself, I promise," Marissa assured me in such a way that suggested I shouldn't be that assured at all.

Luckily, she'd never reacted that way when it came to my brother. She'd told me that while he was the spitting image of my father, he was too young. According to her my father had that seasoned, wise, definitely got better with age thing going on with him. Ugh. Pfft. I made a mental note to keep her away from Oliver once he turned eighteen. There was no guarantee the whole too young thing would apply in her mind once he was legal. I was not going to let my brother turn into a boy toy! I was all for the whole Willow and Zhen relationship, but even though the age gap was the same that was still my baby brother, you know? I helped change his diapers! Therefore, I felt I was allowed to have double-standards in this case. At least I could find peace in the fact that he was absolutely smitten with Kimberly and I didn't see that changing anytime soon. After all, I would know from personal experience, wouldn't I?

"C'mon," I said as I headed toward our driveway.

"What's that?" Marissa asked as she pointed over her shoulder.

I stopped walking and spared a glance behind us. "The church. I'll be sure to show it to you soon. You can meet Nathan and Alisa."

"What's that?" she asked, sticking her elbow out toward the right.

"That road leads to Bluebell," I answered as I started toward the driveway again.

" _The_ Bluebell?" she questioned as she followed along beside me, her lips forming a perfect 'o' immediately after she posed her question.

"Yes. I'm definitely going to show you that, too," I informed her with a smile. I was actually super excited to show her Bluebell as well as Konohana. I'd certainly told her more than enough about them over the years, but some things you just have to see for yourself to really understand.

When we made it far enough down the driveway for her to get her first glimpse of the farm, she kind of squealed. "Oh my gosh, Violet! You didn't tell me how cute this place is. Why didn't you tell me how cute it is?"

"Marissa, I told you just about everything there is to know about the farm."

She wasn't listening because she was still too busy talking. "Is that your house? It is, isn't it? I recognize it from that picture you showed me. You know, the one of you and Colby? Oh wow! Oh, that's so cute!"

I turned my head away from her and let a secret little smile flutter across my lips. I'd thought it was going to be harder to win city-slicker Marissa over to the quiet small town world I was from. Marissa who had never been able to wrap her mind around the concept no matter how many times I'd talked about it over the years. Marissa who'd told me I came from the boonies. I'd anticipated a little bit of a battle with skeptical Marissa who had thought I was crazy the day I'd left the city to return home. Apparently, I'd already won the battle and I hadn't even tried yet.

As for Courtney, I highly doubted she was as enchanted with the two towns as Marissa was about to be. No. If Courtney acted interested in anything pertaining to the towns then it was all an act, her baiting that metaphorical hook for that beautiful fish. The thing about fish is that they always see that tempting bait and not that dangerous hook. They never know they've been hooked and trapped on that line until it's too late.

"This is your room?" Marissa said as we stepped inside my bedroom and I sat her bag down at the foot of my bed.

"No, it's Oliver's room. He's going through this phase where he's really into girly things."

Marissa gasped. "Really? You know, I. . .Wait a minute, were you being sarcastic? You were, weren't you?"

"Yes, this is my room Marissa," I said as I sat down on the bed.

"Violet!" she scolded as she threw herself back on my bed so hard that it bounced me up and I nearly fell on the floor. "That was revenge," she told me with a giggle when she saw the look on my face.

"Very funny," I told her, acting as if I'd found absolutely no humor in the situation even though I was rather amused by it.

Marissa hopped back up and went over to my bulletin board, letting out an enthused squeal. Only a few of my absolute favorite pictures had made the move to the city with me when I left for college so she was seeing a whole bunch of pictures for the first time. "You have so many pictures! Awww, look how little you were there! I just wanna pinch your chubby little cheeks! And oh, who is this?! Is this who I think it is?!"

I got up and looked over her shoulder at the picture she had one perfectly manicured fingernail tapping against. It was a picture Cheryl had given me that she'd taken of me, Akito, and baby Violet. We were standing side-by-side and little Violet was cradled in my arms. It was my new favorite picture on the bulletin board. Actually, it was one of the first new pictures that bulletin board had seen in a long time. I should probably work on taking new pictures of everybody and sticking them up there.

"That, I'll have you know, is my new goddaughter! Isn't she the prettiest little baby you've ever seen?!" I gushed.

"Don't get me wrong, Vi, the baby is absolutely adorable and I very much look forward to meeting her and getting my hands on _her_ chubby little cheeks. I wasn't talking about her, though."

I looked at the picture again and it dawned on me. "You mean Akito?"

Marissa screeched then like nobody's business, excitement radiating off her as she snatched the picture off the board. The pin that had held it in place went flying across the room and it was a miracle that she hadn't torn the picture.

"Whoops. Sorry," she said, actually sounding sincere as she watched me cross the room over by my window to locate the pin. She then redirected her attention down to the picture and said "So this is _the_ Akito?"

I blew a strand of hair out of my face as I searched on my hands and knees for the pin. If I were to simply replace it and leave it down there, I could conceivably step on it later and that wouldn't feel nice. When I found it I said "Aha!" Then I stood up and addressed Marissa. "That's what I said."

"Wow. You know, out of all of the people close to you I'm sure you don't need me to point out that he's the only one I haven't seen a picture of before."

She was right. I'd taken a few pictures of my family and my closest friends to the city with me. None of those pictures included Akito, though. I'd been very careful to exclude any pictures of him. Wait, no. That's not true. I did have one of him and I hadn't met Marissa yet at the time. The last time I'd laid eyes on Akito had been when I was nineteen. I'd been home from school on break. It had been about a year since I'd seen him and that had taken some getting used to since I'd seen Akito pretty much every day for our entire lives up until we'd both left home.

Of course, just about every day of that entire year I had looked at that picture of him like the love-struck teenager I was. After finally seeing him again, all of those feelings that I'd been trying to bury climbed up out of the metaphorical dirt. When it was time for the both of us to leave again and part ways, that hadn't been easy for me. After some deep thought I realized I had to move forward, pull myself together, and give my new life the focus it deserved. I needed Akito out of sight completely if I had any chance of getting him out of mind. I had to take that picture of Akito and pin it back up on my board. And leave it there.

"I know."

"He's very handsome," she said quietly, in a much more subdued way than I had been expecting. I shot her a funny look because that wasn't really like her. Then she looked up at the various pictures on the board and her eyes kept coming back to the one in her hand. "Hmm."

"Hmm?" I asked, wondering what was going on in her head. She was also starting that 'hmm' thing again and that never boded well for me.

"Oh nothing. It's just that in this picture he. . ."

The sound of the front door opening and closing cut her off. Then we heard "Hey, Violet, are you here?"

It was the distinct sound of my father's voice. I'd completely forgotten it was one of his days off. Just like that, Marissa returned to her usual effervescent self. Whatever she'd been about to say to me, she'd completely forgotten.


	25. Marissa Meets Jackson

**Author's Note:** Okay, so this chapter ended up being _way_ longer than I planned. And I'd been planning this chapter for months. There was a lot to be said, though, and I had to find the right words even if there were a lot more words than what I'd intended.

* * *

Showing Marissa around Bluebell had been a real whirlwind of excitement, let me tell you. It had been a non-stop series of "No way!" and "Oh, that's so cute!" and "How quaint and charming!" and "Ooh, this is _so_ storybook!" and "Too bad you don't have a souvenir shop! I want a little Bluebell snow globe now!" When we'd met up with Colby the two of them, who had only ever met once before, got reacquainted and gelled so quickly I wondered if I should be jealous and if the two of them were replacing me. I mean, my best friend since birth and my closest friend in the city? What if they started liking each other more than they liked me? Then I realized thinking like that was petty and silly and there was no replacing me, come rain or shine.

When Colby told me Keiko and Willow were on their way to town and that some wedding planning was about to go down, Marissa was totally on board with being in on that. And when the other two finally came and we all met around a table in the cafe, Marissa had bonded with them pretty quickly even though she'd never met those two before. All in all, I was very pleased that all of my female friends were getting along so famously. ' _Squad goals_ ,' I thought to myself with some amusement.

Willow was going to be Keiko's maid of honor. That made sense to me. We were a tight-knit group and all four of us were close, but Keiko and Willow were closer whereas Colby and I were closer. Marissa wasn't going to be in town when the wedding rolled around, but she was more than happy to give Keiko her opinions about things whenever she was asked. Keiko had opted to wear the beautiful, pure white kimono that her mother had worn when her parents got married. Nori, of course, was already in the process of making alterations to it for Keiko to make it extra special for her wedding. She was also making preparations to make kimonos for the bridesmaids as well. Keiko assured me she'd have time to make my scarf in the midst of all that.

The theme was going to be a winter wonderland kind of thing with white flowers that I was sure my father was going to be more than happy to supply. Any other decorations, of course, were being left to me. The kimonos for the bridesmaids would be a light, icy blue, although Keiko was still trying to figure out what exact shade she wanted. Because it was winter and it was cold outside, the ceremony would be taking place at the church rather than the mountaintop. I gave Keiko a kiss on the cheek when she told me this because we both knew that I had an aversion to cold.

As far as things from Makoto's side of the spectrum went, the battle over who got to be the best man was finally over. Akito ultimately decided to step aside and insist that Jackson have the honor. His reasoning, Keiko told me, was that neither of them had a brother whereas Akito did. If he ever got married then Georgia would never let him hear the end of it if he didn't choose his brother to be his best man, so that was that. Zhen was also going to be in the wedding party considering he'd grown close to Makoto over the years while Akito was gone and Jackson was in and out of town.

Of course, the mere mention of Jackson's name had done something to me. Just hearing it made me suck in a sharp breath and I felt so awkward and confused and sad. I hadn't seen him since the night we kissed. I was sitting in the middle of his family's cafe, where he lived, and he was nowhere to be found. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I was relieved or disappointed by that. As for being in the cafe in general, that had been awkward for me considering Laney and Howard were shooting me sympathetic looks and giving me pats on the back. Howard had also insisted on fixing me a special drink that would be sure to boost my spirits. As I nursed that blissfully caffeine-packed drink, my spirits regarding Jackson stayed about the same, but I smiled for Howard's benefit so he'd stop watching me so closely. There was also a little disappointment there for them, too. I supposed that the possibility of both of our families officially being joined down the line had crossed their minds and now that dream was shot.

There were still more wedding details to be ironed out, but a lot of ground had been covered so far and the first official meeting between us was adjourned. Keiko went back to Konohana to fill Makoto in on the meeting and Willow went with her. Colby stayed around for a little longer, soaking up Marissa's praise for that time she'd done barked like a dog and scared Courtney senseless. Colby congratulated Marissa on the verbal lashing she'd given Courtney, which we'd filled her in on earlier. It was like they were congratulating each other on being co-presidents of the Violet Defense Force or something.

At last, Colby left because Ash was expecting her back to take care of some things around their farm. That left just Marissa and I in the cafe with Laney and Howard. Jackson was still nowhere to be seen and again, I wasn't sure if I was relieved or disappointed about that. I didn't even know what I'd say to him if I were to see him. What could I say? What was there to say? Actually, there was a lot I felt needed to be said between us, I just wasn't sure what it was.

"You ready to go?" Marissa asked me as she stood up, grabbing her expensive looking purse while I grabbed my rucksack and slipped it onto my back.

"Yeah, we should get going," I told her. I'd been avoiding the cafe and being in it so long had me feeling like there wasn't enough air in the place to fill my lungs. I had to get out into the fresh air and then escape to somewhere else warm.

It had started snowing by the time we made it out the door. Then I remembered that the weather forecast had said there would be a snow shower in the afternoon. My face scrunched up in displeasure. Oh, I liked snow. Well, I liked looking at it from afar. Like. . .I enjoyed seeing it through the window with a steaming cup of coffee or hot chocolate in my hands. Being out and about in it did not bring me joy, though. Ugh, winter. I tugged my hat down more snugly on top of my head, adjusted my chunky scarf for maximum protection from the cold, pulled my hood up over my head, and tugged a pair of gloves onto my hands. When she was done putting on her gloves and fussing with her own scarf, Marissa stood in the doorway and reached into her purse before pulling out one of those little retractable umbrellas. She promptly extended it to its full size before opening it up and raising it up. She left the cover of the doorway and sought refuge under the umbrella.

"What?" she questioned as she intercepted the look on my face. "Snow is moisture. It melts and gets wet. You know I can't let anything wet touch my hair or else my hair will frizz and I'll be dealing with a curly afro. I got my hair from my dad's side, not my mom's."

That was true, I had to admit. Marissa worked hard to tame her curls, but any kind of moisture was enough to negate all of that work. Her mother had that peaches and cream kind of skin tone and straight strawberry blonde hair that Marissa definitely did not inherit. Her father, on the other hand, had milk chocolate skin and black hair. Marissa didn't get his skin tone. Rather, hers was a mix of both and a shade or two lighter than that of a graham cracker. Her hair did come from his side, though.

"I'm not judging you," I informed her with an amused little smile. I definitely knew how much work it took for her to get her hair to look like that and that work included at least five different hair products. "I was just thinking that you have a hood on your coat and if you were to pull said hood up then your hair would be safe."

Marissa paused mid-step and glanced over at me kind of sheepishly. "Oh." That was all she said as she pulled the hood up. "Oops, almost forgot! She tugged the hood back down with one hand while holding the umbrella with the other. Then she reached inside the pocket of her coat and pulled out the fuzzy pink earmuffs she'd been wearing earlier. I watched her struggle to get them on one-handed for a few moments before I snatched them out her hand and secured them over her ears. "Thanks, Vi." She then pulled the hood back up _and_ continued to hold the umbrella over her head anyway.

She glanced over toward where my father was standing at his shop, looking spiffy in his coat and wise with his reading glasses perched on the tip of his nose as he examined some flowers he was holding. Her head was turned far enough for me to not have to see the look on her face.

"Hey M, you never did tell me if you're seeing anybody right now," I hedged. Marissa wasn't the type to stay single for long so even though the last letter she'd sent me said she'd broken up with the flavor of the day, I knew somebody else was already in his place.

Marissa turned her attention back to me kind of reluctantly. "Gym guy."

I stopped walking in front of the statue in the town square and turned to face her. "Gym guy?"

"You know, you're right, Vi. This place is so picturesque! It's like a little cozy gingerbread town without the gingerbread. Hey, do they make gingerbread cookies over at the cafe? Because I'm craving some now. Oh, I can't wait until you show me Konohana because I can't wait to see how picturesque it is, too!"

I stood there giving her my best impression of my father, the kind of look he always gave me growing up when he knew I'd done something but I wasn't fessing up to it. It never took long for me to crack under the weight of his stare. Apparently it was an effective tool against Marissa, too, because she immediately caved.

"Yes, gym guy. You know, the guy I asked out while my drawn on eyebrow was busy dripping down my face? I ran into him again while I was heading to that shoe store you know I like and it was all like 'Oh hey, it's you!' and 'It's good to see you again. How have you been doing?' and 'Not as good as you apparently because you look fantastic' and 'Me? What about you? You look smokin' hot!' and. . ."

"Marissa," I laughed then, remembering that being around her was always nothing short of amusing. "I don't need a play-by-play and transcript of your entire conversation. I just want to know your feelings. So, you still like him?"

She twirled her umbrella back and forth over her head, diverting some of the snow falling and making some of it hit me in the face. "Oops, sorry. But yeah. I do still like him so we're giving it a try again. I have both of my eyebrows intact this time so maybe it'll all work out."

"That's the spirit," I cheered her on as I turned around to start walking again. I took two steps forward and then stopped dead in my tracks. There he was standing no more than ten feet away from me. Snowflakes were drifting into his hair and blending into the silvery-white strands. Eyes the color of a new leaf in spring were peering back at me. The breath that had just been floating out of my mouth in opaque puffs suddenly cut off.

Marissa noticed my halt and looked from me over to Jackson and then back to me for about two seconds before her gaze settled on him.

"Violet," he said quietly, but loud enough for me to hear him.

"Jackson," I exhaled, suddenly able to put my lungs to use again.

Marissa, ever the ice-breaker, said "This is _the_ Jackson? I recognize him from your pictures, but he's so grown up and impishly handsome now."

"Impish?" Jackson intoned as he turned his attention to Marissa. There was a hint of a smirk on his face tugging up one corner of his lips, just enough to reveal a flash of that dimple I was such a fan of.

She had somehow managed to diffuse some of the tension radiating in the air and for that I was grateful. "Jack, this is Marissa. You know, my closest friend from the city."

Recognition sparked in his eyes. "Yes, of course. It's nice to meet you, Marissa," he said as he gave her a mock bow and shook her hand for good measure. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"I like him," she informed me as she spared me a glance. Then she turned her attention back to Jackson and said "I like you," as if he hadn't just heard what she'd said to me.

I wasn't going to point out to her that she liked most guys because that didn't make a difference. How could anybody _not_ like Jackson?

"Best news I've heard all day," he quipped. His expression suddenly turned serious, though, as he fixed his eyes back on me. "Marissa, do you mind if I steal Violet away for a little while?"

Marissa clapped her hands together and said "Right, I know when I need to make myself scarce. I'll see you back at your house, Violet. She then strolled over to Jackson and said "Hey, smile for a second, will you?" He had a befuddled look on his face before he did as she requested. As soon as the dimple made an appearance, she pressed her gloved finger against it much like I had before. "Okay, that was awesome-sauce. Nice to meet you, Jackson. Bye." With that said, she strolled away from the two of us, still twirling the umbrella over her head as she went.

Jackson stared after her for a second before saying "She's a, uh. . ."

"She's a force to be reckoned with? Yep, that's true. Life never gets dull when she's around, that's for sure." The smile that Marissa's shenanigans had brought to my face evaporated as I glanced at Jackson. I suddenly felt nervous and guilty and completely weird as I asked him "Did you want to talk to me about something, Jackson?"

He sobered back up then, too. "Uh, yeah. I do want to talk. We should do it somewhere else, though. I think we need somewhere private and warm."

Somewhere private and warm ended up being the guest room over at Town Hall. I didn't know where Mikhail was at the moment, but I figured my kind-of uncle was off walking somewhere enjoying the freezing cold of winter in the same way I enjoyed the blasting heat of summer. As I strolled into the room, I took my gloves off and pulled my hood down. I didn't want to stay standing because that would lead to pacing, so I sat down on a sofa.

Jackson stood there silently regarding me for a few moments before he approached the sofa. He didn't sit down, though. "This is kind of awkward," he finally admitted.

"I know," I agreed with a weary sigh. "And I really don't want it to be, Jack. I really don't."

"Me neither." He stood there considering me for a few more moments before he asked "May I?" I saw him gesturing toward the free spot to the left of me on the sofa. When I nodded he sat down. "I don't know where to start."

"Just start wherever feels right," I suggested to him, not really knowing what else to say to encourage him.

It took him a minute or two, but Jackson finally did find the words he was looking for. "You're my cousin, Violet. I could never see that before, but I can now. I can." He shook his head kind of ruefully before he continued. "You know, when we were kids I always watched you. You've always been something else. Something special, you know? No, I guess you don't know. You can't see it in yourself, can you?"

He was looking at me as if he seriously expected an answer, but I knew it was a rhetorical question. Besides, even if he had expected me to answer I had no idea what to say to something like that. I had no idea whatsoever. I sat there with my hands in my lap, nervously twisting the fingers of my discarded gloves and not caring if I managed to stretch them out.

"At some point, I guess when we were teenagers, it kind of hit me. One day I looked at you and I felt something different, something that wasn't a cousinly feeling. I didn't want to say anything to you, though, because I thought it would freak you out, destroy our friendship, and cause a rift between our families. I mean, after all, we'd been raised as cousins and I didn't think my feelings would go over well." He paused then and ran his fingers through his hair as he collected his thoughts. It was a little damp now that the snow he'd collected there had melted. Why he hadn't worn a hat or used his hood, I didn't know.

"I know the feeling, actually," I quietly admitted to him. Hadn't I been worried about the same things once I realized Jackson had feelings for me?

"I didn't tell anybody how I was feeling. Not Akito. Not Makoto. The three of us are best friends. We're close, but. . .no. I said nothing. Part of it was I felt kind of ashamed. I'm sorry to say that. I mean, I'm not ashamed of _you_ , never of you. I was ashamed of myself. The other part of it was, well, I don't know. . ." With a sigh, Jackson took his fingers out his hair and started up again. "When you finally came back to town I saw you and it was like 'Oh, wow, there she is. It's her. It's really her.'" I knew that feeling, too. It was kind of like that when I saw Akito again that day in Georgia's shop. "It was kind of like a dream come true."

Darn Jackson for tugging at my heartstrings again with a corny, cliché line like that when I was such a fan of corny, cliché lines like that! "R-Really?"

He laughed then, but the sound of it lacked humor. "Yeah. It was. At first, I just tried to deal with those same old feelings the same way I always had. One day, though, I don't know. It was like a flip had been switched and I just thought 'What the heck, why not? I think I'll go for it.' I mean, you only live once, Violet. So I went for it. I finally made my move. And you. . .I knew you were reluctant and uncomfortable at first. I mean, I understand that. How could you not be considering we've been told all our lives that we're cousins? Sure, we're not technically related, but it is a hard thing to get out of your head. Still, though, you gave me a chance, Violet, and that was more than I ever thought I was going to get."

"Jackson, I. . ."

He placed his hand over one of mine and said. "Let me finish? Please?"

I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat and nodded. This conversation was turning out to be very one-sided. I realized, though, that Jackson had a lot to get out, a lot to say to me. And he'd been holding all of these things in for a long time. I knew what it felt like to have all these thoughts and feelings and to keep them to yourself for so long that they started to weigh heavily on your shoulders. So if he needed me to hush up and mostly listen then I would do that.

"I waited for you to feel more comfortable around me, to become more accepting of the thought of us being together. I told you before, Vi, I'm a patient man. I'd waited for you that long and I could wait however much longer it took for you to come around. Then you kissed me and. . ."

He fell silent and I knew exactly what he was thinking because I was thinking the exact same thing. I was thinking about the kisses during that quiet night in the empty first floor of the cafe. Whatever chemistry we'd previously felt between us had fizzled and faded immediately because when it came down to it, there truly wasn't anything there between us. It had felt wrong, actually. Legitimately wrong. Because even if we weren't actually related, as it turned out we really were family. He was my cousin.

"You're my cousin, Violet. I know that now. I know it and I accept it. I've come to terms with it. Still, though, I wouldn't go back and change what I did. I wouldn't go back and second guess putting myself out there. I would still make my move and make my feelings for you known."

"Really?" I asked kind of disbelievingly. "Why, Jack? I mean, look at what's happened. Look how. . ."

He threaded his fingers through mine and squeezed my hand. It wasn't the same as before, though, when we were together and we held hands. It felt different now. It felt innocent again, almost like it would have before the gardenia situation on Flower Day had occurred.

"Oh, Violet. Haven't you ever heard that it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all? It's kind of like that. I would have regretted not at least trying. I mean that. If I hadn't then I always would have wondered 'what if.' I always would have wondered what might have happened if I'd only just told you. Maybe you would have rejected me, but there was also a chance that you wouldn't have. Either way, though, I wouldn't have had to wonder anymore. I wouldn't have had the ghost of possibilities lurking on my shoulder. You deserved to know how I felt and I deserved my chance to let you know. And we deserved to at least try. And we did try, Vi. We gave it our best shot. In the end, though, it just wasn't meant to be."

I scooted a little closer and put my head on Jackson's shoulder, breathing in the scent of summer, of freshly cut grass. I breathed in the scent of Jackson. "I'm sorry, Jack," I whispered as I held back the urge to cry. "You're such a great guy. You're wonderful, you know? And I. . .I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Violet. Never be sorry," he said insistently as he put his arm around me. "There's nothing to be sorry for. You didn't do anything wrong. I didn't do anything wrong. Some things are just not meant to be and us? Me and you? We're not meant to be that way. But hey, we'll always have Cassiopeia with it's cool 'w' shape and Orion's Belt. Oh, and my lucky star. . ."

"Venus," I corrected again, unable to stop the words from shooting out my mouth.

He grinned. "Still my lucky star."

We were both quiet for a little while, each of us lost in our own thoughts, before I finally broke the silence. "So what now, Jack? What's going to happen with us? Will we ever be able to go back to the way things were before?"

He seemed to give it a lot of thought before he finally answered. "I honestly don't think that we'll ever be able to go back to exactly the way things were before. Things will be a bit strange for a little while, but time will pass and the strangeness will fade. I think it's alright that things won't be exactly the same, though, because now they can be even better for us than before. Now that I'm sure we're actually cousins, I can be a real cousin to you without holding onto some secret feelings that always have me feeling conflicted. I can be a better friend to you now, also."

I let out a sigh that was full of all of the feelings I had swarming through me. I released all of that inner conflict and I let it go. I just let it go right then and there. And as soon as I did, I understood what Jackson had been saying. I suddenly felt at peace with us and our situation. I felt at peace with what had happened between us and how we ended. Maybe it all really would be okay. Maybe it would.

"What now Jack? Is there anything I can do? Is there anything. . ."

"Well, you could always kiss me," he suggested. When my mouth dropped wide open and my jaw just about hit the floor, Jackson laughed. He let out a genuine laugh that I'd been missing ever since things had gone south between us. "Not that kind of kiss, Vi. I want. . .the kind of kiss you would've given me before. I want the kind of kiss that my cousin always gave me when she saw me."

I immediately understood what he was asking of me. Back before Jackson had made his initial move on me, I'd often given him kisses on the cheek whenever I saw him. The realization hit me right then that I'd stopped giving out those kisses after the gardenia situation and I also realized then that I'd missed them. I reached up and placed my hand on his left cheek before I pulled his head down a little and placed a gentle kiss against his right cheek. I could feel his face shift as he smiled underneath my innocent kiss. That kiss felt normal. It felt like it always had to me, like I was Violet, he was Jackson, and he was the cousin I adored. It was then that I was positive that Jackson had been correct. Everything would be okay. In time, it would be even better for us than before.

"Thanks," he told me as I pulled away. I could see the smile I'd felt before clearly there on his face. "I really missed that."

"Me, too," I admitted with a smile of my own.

Jackson took my hands again and then looked at me seriously. "Listen, Vi. I thought you should know that I'm going to leave town for a little while."

"What?!"

"It's just for a few weeks. I'm not running away for long. I'll be back soon," he assured me.

"Jackson, aren't you supposed to be Makoto's best man? You can't just go running off right now," I pointed out, fighting the urge to pull him by the ear and scold him even more.

"I'll be back before the wedding. Trust me, I wouldn't miss it for the world. I had some gigs come up and when I talked to Makoto about them, he told me it was okay and to go ahead. I wouldn't have accepted them if he'd had a problem with it. I just thought we should clear the air between us before I left and I thought you should know I was going."

If Makoto was fine with it then who was I to have a problem with it? Who knew, perhaps it would do good for us to have a little time away from each other.

"If you need to get in touch with me for any reason, I'm going to leave all my information with my mom. Don't hesitate to use it."

"I won't hesitate," I assured him. "I hope," I said before I paused for a moment. "I hope that you have fun and I'll be happy when you get back."

His dimple made another appearance. "Thanks," he told me as he stood up. "Well, I'd better get home now. I'm really. . .I'm really happy that we had this talk, Violet."

"Me, too, Jack," I assured him as I stood up as well and gave him a parting hug. He hugged me back and then moved toward the door. I really was happy. I felt much better than I had before and that was thanks to him having the courage to be honest with me.

"Oh, and Violet?" he asked me as he stood in the doorway and looked back at me.

"Hmm?"

"The best advice I think I could ever give you is this: Just be honest. If you ever find yourself in the same kind of situation as I was. . .I mean, if you ever find yourself having feelings for somebody you think you can't have and keeping all of that in then don't do that to yourself. Come clean. Whoever that lucky guy is, just go for it and tell him. Even if you ultimately get rejected, at least you won't have to wonder 'what if' and you'll be able to move on and move forward. I'll be able to move on now, I know, and I think that's great. And you never know, chances are that he won't reject you and will reciprocate your feelings instead. If that's the case, then you'll finally have what you want, what you deserve. And if there's a chance that you can have what you want then don't deny yourself the opportunity. Win or lose, Vi, you won't regret it."

With that said, Jackson gave me one of his winks and left me alone in that room with nothing to keep me company but my thoughts.


	26. Marissa Meets Akito

**Author's Note:** I found myself really busy and didn't have time to update for over a week. Sorry! To make up for it, I'll be posting two chapters today and the next update should come Wednesday or Thursday.

* * *

Do you want to know the funny thing about that piece of advice Jackson had given me? I'd received advice like that before from two other mouths. None of that advice was exactly the same, but all of those pieces of advice were similar enough that I could apply them to the exact same situation. It seemed as if every bit of advice I'd received was telling me to come clean and confess my feelings to Akito.

You know, I truly did care for Jackson and I really had wanted to try to make things work with him. I hadn't been using him, either. I didn't give our relationship a shot to try to get over Akito. I'd tried to move forward with Jackson and to me there was a distinct difference. At the end of the day, though, I couldn't fight the fact that throughout everything that had happened with Jackson, one constant had remained whether I had acknowledged it or not: I was still in love with Akito.

Even though I'd been able to bury my feelings for Akito while I was in the city and date other guys without thinking about his topaz eyes, those feelings for him hadn't gone away. Not really. They'd still existed, even if I'd worked hard to suppress them. They'd been there all along even if I'd dug them a metaphorical grave with a metaphorical shovel and piled metaphorical dirt on top of them. Maybe I did need to tell him and get it over with. He was with Courtney, after all, and he was going to reject me for sure, but at least then maybe I'd be able to successfully move on. Maybe I'd feel as free as Jackson did. Maybe. . .

I'd always been afraid to tell him because when it came down to it, what if telling him ruined our friendship? I didn't want to ever lose my friendship with him, no matter what. I'd always assumed that if I told him then our friendship would be over the second he rejected me because things would get extremely awkward between us and I wouldn't have any idea how to deal with that. Jackson, though. . .Jackson had proved to me that this wasn't necessarily the case. Our bond was still there. Our friendship had survived and given time, we'd be right back on track. Could it be like that for Akito and me? Could I be as strong as Jackson was being? Could I?

"Violet, have you heard a single word I've said?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and focused on Marissa. It was day three of her visit and today we were visiting Konohana. We'd just left the tea house where we'd been hanging out with Willow before Zhen showed up and caught her attention. It had done me good to have something hot to drink considering how much it was costing me to walk around in the cold weather with Marissa. Maybe I really should consider hibernating until spring. "I'm sorry, Marissa. What did you say?"

She sighed and shook her head as if she didn't know what she was going to do with me since I was being so spacey. "I was talking about how you were right yet again. Konohana is such a beautiful place! It's so different from Bluebell, but it's no less picturesque."

"You should see it in spring when the cherry blossoms bloom. There's a festival to celebrate and watch them, too. It's a beautiful sight."

"Maybe I'll come back then," she mused, more to herself than to me. Now that Marissa had seen the two towns in person, I had a feeling that she would definitely be back. This made me happy.

Before we even made it into Konohana properly, I had taken Marissa over to the farm to introduce her to Cheryl, Phillip, all of their older children, and of course, baby Violet. It had been love at first sight for Marissa, of course. After we left the farm, she declared that she now had baby fever and she would have to get gym guy or somebody else to put a ring on her finger soon so she could have one of her own. I'd stumbled and almost ended up with my face in the snow.

When I stopped by the clinic to give Hiro his birthday gift, Makoto wasn't there. That was good for me because that meant I wouldn't have to introduce Marissa to him that day. I knew, for sure, that she'd have something obscene to say. That sure didn't stop her from pinching Hiro's cheeks, though, and telling him he had the sweet face of a cherub.

We had spotted Courtney briefly. As soon as she caught sight of Marissa, though, she'd turned and hurried in the opposite direction. Of course, it could have had something to do with the look that Marissa was sending her. It was a good thing Colby wasn't around to do that barking thing again because Marissa might have ended up stumbling and ending up with her face in the snow herself. I'd been working so hard to do better for Akito and be better for Akito, but that didn't apply to my female friends. All of them, even Keiko, had shown their dislike of Courtney on at least one occasion.

I appreciated that. I really did. I loved my friends dearly. It kept growing inside me, though, this feeling that ultimately I was going to end up having to fight my own battle. I'd been trying very hard not to engage Courtney because I didn't want to put Akito in an awkward position, but Courtney kept forcing my hand. That whole fish speech had very nearly been the last straw and I prayed to the Harvest Goddess for the patience to continue to deal with her.

"Oh!" Marissa exclaimed. " _Oh_! Violet. Violet. Violet!"

"What?" I asked, wondering why she'd thought saying my name three times had been necessary to get my attention. Then I remembered how I'd spaced out on her only a few minutes before so that answered my question for me.

"Is that who I think it is? _Please_ tell me that's who I think it is! Come on, look! Look over there," she enthused as she pointed her bubblegum pink fingernail in the direction of the bridge. On that bridge, in the place that I had always thought of as our spot, was Akito.

Boom-clap.

"U-Uh, yeah. That's definitely him. Now that you've seen him in person, we can. . ."

"No, Violet, we _cannot_ go. Not now. I haven't even had the chance to be properly introduced! Oh, see there? He's looking at us. It would be rude to just leave now anyway. Come on, we should go say hi!"

I groaned on the inside because Marissa meeting Jackson had been bad enough. I could only imagine what she was going to pull once she was within five feet of Akito. The funny thing was. . .as eager as Marissa had been to get over there and meet Akito, she trailed behind me kind of slowly and then sort of hung back at first.

"Fancy meeting you here, Vi," Akito said so warmly that I could barely feel the winter breeze.

"Oh, well you know. I was in the neighborhood, Ki. I tend to end up in the neighborhood from time to time and this was just one of those times."

He chuckled and I basked in the sound of it. I adored that sound and I loved being the reason for it. Akito suddenly got serious, though, as he stepped forward and put his hands on my shoulders. "How are you?"

I knew exactly what he was referring to. We hadn't seen each other since before my breakup with Jackson. And while I was sure nobody within my inner circle had blabbed to him about my massive food-fest and whatnot, Akito knew me well enough to know that I'd been put through the ringer.

"I'm fine, Ki." When he shot me a dubious look, I said "No, really, I am. Jack and I had a really good talk and I think it's all gonna be okay."

Akito pulled the new scarf I'd received from Nori earlier more snugly around me to better protect me from the cold. "Yeah, that's what he told me when I talked to him yesterday. I guess I just needed to hear it from you, too."

There was the distinct clearing of a throat from behind me and I suddenly remembered I had Marissa with me. "Oh, M, I'm so sorry! Hey, Ki, this is Marissa. She's the best friend I had in the city and she came all this way to visit me. Marissa, this is Akito."

" _The_ Akito," she said as she stepped forward. "It is so wonderful to _finally_ get to meet you!"

Akito, ever the gentleman, took Marissa's hand and placed a kiss on it. She swooned. Like. . .she literally swooned. "Likewise, Marissa. I've actually heard a lot about you from Violet. They were all good things, by the way."

Marissa beamed. "Believe me when I say I've heard a lot about you, too. _A lot_." That prompted me to elbow Marissa in the ribs because Akito did not need to know that. It did nothing to deter her. "I must say, all those pictures Violet has of you up on her bulletin board did not do you justice! You're even more handsome in person. Ruggedly handsome."

I could have sworn I saw the slightest hint of red on his cheeks before he looked over at me while he spoke to her. "She still has those pictures up there? I haven't been in her room to see those in a long time."

' _Yeah, because back in the day my dad banned him from my room not long after he banned Jackson_ _and any other guy who didn't have the last name of Drayton._ '

Marissa ignored the warning look I shot her as she said "Well then, perhaps you should do something about that."

" _Marissa_ ," I hissed under my breath.

She didn't give Akito the chance to respond to that because she continued on. "I love that picture of you and Violet with your little goddaughter. That picture is precious!"

Akito's eyes lit up at her words. "I do, too. It's definitely my new favorite picture. I think I'll have my copy of it framed." His amber gaze swept over to me and we shared a proud godparent smile. "Baby Violet is something special."

"So is not-baby-Violet," Marissa said, indicating me.

"Okay, I think it's time for us to go now," I cut in then.

She had been kind of subdued by her standards when she'd met Jackson. I mean, she'd touched his dimple, but that was rather tame for Marissa. That was probably because she'd realized how serious it had been for us to see each other for the first time since our breakup. Therefore, she had reigned in her shenanigans. Marissa meeting Akito, however, was mortifying considering she was in top form at the moment. I tugged my hood down in the hopes of obscuring my face because I was sure it was red.

"Oh, before I forget, I had the pleasure of meeting Courtney when I first arrived in town."

Oh no. Oh. . .Oh no.

Akito's face looked a little pinched, a look that I'd seen on him quite often since some time in summer, but then he smiled. It looked forced to me and I had to fight the urge to frown.

"Did you? She didn't mention to me that she met you."

' _I'm not surprised_.'

"I encountered her having the strangest conversation with Violet. They were talking about. . ."

I leveled a look at Marissa from under my hood and once I had her attention, I looked meaningfully down at her shoes. Apparently she got the message, which was that I was going to stomp the dirty bottom of my boots all over the top of those expensive shoes if she didn't shut up, because she did shut up.

"Girl stuff. It's nothing you need to worry about," I told him as I tried not to cringe at that lie. I wasn't just omitting this time. "Anyway, I think it's time for Marissa and me to go."

Marissa didn't look apologetic in the least, but she did look like she was going to cooperate. "You're right. We have some things we need to do back in Bluebell. It really was good to meet you, though, Akito."

Akito, looking like he was having trouble making heads or tails of the entire conversation that just occurred, took Marissa's hand again and gave it another kiss. She swooned some more. "It was nice meeting you, too, Marissa."

"Time to go now. Come on, Marissa," I insisted as I gently prodded her in the other direction. "Bye, Ki."

"See you, Vi."

I didn't dare look back at him. I didn't dare.

"Are you insane?!" I tried not to yell at Marissa when we were far enough away that Akito couldn't hear us.

"What?" she asked. "I was just being friendly. Meeting Akito. Having a little chit-chat."

"Marissa."

"Does he wear plaid a lot? I bet he does. He looks like he'd be the type to wear plaid a lot. Does he ever chop wood? He looks like the rugged lumberjack type. If he doesn't ever chop wood then he definitely should."

" _Marissa_."

"Has he ever considered letting his facial hair grow? I mean, I bet that man would look fantastic with a beard while he's wearing plaid and chopping wood."

"No. Facial hair is _not_ Akito's thing!" I said insistently, remembering when Courtney had convinced him to start growing a beard. I hadn't liked it. More importantly, Akito hadn't liked it. And now, thankfully, it was gone.

"Hmm. I see that you feel very strongly on that subject. Oh! One more thing, Vi. He smells divine! It's like he's a genie and instead of living in a lamp he lives in a bottle of laundry detergent."

I stopped talking to her then. I was done with the conversation and saw no point in talking because anything I said, and I do mean anything, would just encourage her more. Eventually she fell silent, but when we were in the tunnel she opened up her mouth again. "You guys have a connection."

I had to grab onto the wall to stop myself from hitting the ground since her comment tripped me up. "W-What?" I looked around and made sure I didn't see anybody nearby to hear her current line of craziness.

"You guys have a connection! Oh, Violet, it's totally there. I thought so when I saw the way he looked at you in all those pictures on your board, but I definitely know it exists now!"

"Marissa," I commented with a certain level of exasperation that I was trying not to have. "We've known each other our entire lives. Of course we have a connection."

Marissa stomped behind me with the steps of a war general. I expected for her to make some other inane comment but instead all she said was " _Mmm-hmmmm._ "

And she dragged it out like there was something she knew that I didn't and I knew she was expecting me to take some kind of bait. When I didn't rise to the occasion she sighed kind of dramatically, but kept silent otherwise. I wasn't obtuse. I knew exactly what she was trying to imply, but unlike her I knew better. The only thing between me and Akito was our life-long friendship and the unrequited love I'd been hiding for over a decade.

Later on, when Marissa had finally calmed her little self down after the excitement of meeting Akito, she sat in front of my dresser and played with her hair. She decided to use the pair of chopsticks she'd brought from the tea house to pile her hair into some kind of cool little up-do. It reminded me of how Keiko had used chopsticks for her hairdo at her birthday party. When I stared at the chopsticks with a quirked eyebrow she told me "What? You guys don't have snow globes so I had to get some kind of keepsake from Konohana. Ying told me I could have them for free."

"Well, what about Bluebell? Are you getting a keepsake from here as well?"

At that moment, my father opened the door and poked his head in. "It's time to eat," he told us simply.

"Hey, Mr. Drayton," Marissa said with a voice as smooth as silk. "Will you please wait a moment?"

I tried not to groan. I failed.

Dad liked Marissa, sure. He just wasn't particularly comfortable around Marissa due to her crush, and it showed. Mom thought it was hilarious. He stood there quietly with one hand in his pocket and the other rubbing the back of his head. "Did you need something?"

There were all sorts of things I just knew Marissa was thinking about saying in her head. Most of those things, I knew, would make both dad and I absolutely beside ourselves. Instead, she said "I know you make perfume at your shop. If I stop by will you make a bottle for me?"

My father blinked. I blinked. Both of us let out a little sigh of relief. He started to feel more comfortable and put both of his hands in his pockets before giving us a brief smile. "Sure. Come by and I'll come up with something."

Marissa turned and looked at me. "Violet, you have, like. . .the cutest dad ever! I'm serious, look at that smile. Aaah, look at it!" she told me while she pointed at him. "And he's wearing those reading glasses again. It's too much. I just can't." She dramatically turned her head away as if he was so radiant that she couldn't look upon him even one more moment.

Dad stood there opening and closing his mouth a few times with no idea what to say. Ultimately, he opened up the door and made a swift exit. I had the distinct feeling that dinner was going to be an awkward affair tonight.

"Marissa!" I exclaimed as I threw one of my pillows at her. It hit her shoulder and bounced off before landing on the floor. "I can't believe you."

"What?" she asked with that doe-eyed Bambi look. She was feigning innocence.

There truly was never a dull moment when it came to Marissa. She stayed with us for a total of six days before it was finally time for her to go back to the city. Even if at least half of the things that came out of Marissa's mouth ran my blood pressure up and made me want to do a facepalm, I loved that about her. I was going to miss her.

"Right," Marissa said as she took Willow's hands in hers and gave her a bolstering look. "Girl, you know what you want. I say that you put the pressure on him. Oh! Better yet, give him an ultimatum. You tell him that either he mans up and gets with the program, or you're going to leave him high and dry. If he's got it as bad for you as you think he does, then he won't be able to live without you and he will be eating out the palm of your hand."

"You make it sound so simple," Willow said thoughtfully.

"Oh, believe me, it is."

It was funny how when Courtney came to town, Willow had been worried that she would turn Zhen's head, yet somebody as dynamic as Marissa hadn't even made her feel threatened. On the contrary, she'd taken Marissa to meet Zhen herself. That was truly a testament to how quickly and easily Marissa had slipped right on in and integrated into the group and earned everybody's trust. It warmed my heart. Once again, squad goals.

Marissa then turned to Keiko and gave her a hug. "I'm positive you're going to be a beautiful bride," she enthused.

"Remember that you are more than welcome if you have the opportunity to make it back for the wedding," Keiko reminded her as they both smiled.

I doubted that Marissa would be able to make it back at all later on in the season. We'd be seeing her again for sure, though, and probably sooner rather than later.

Colby gave Marissa a hug, and for some reason I was pleased to see that Colby didn't hug her as tightly as she tended to hug me. I guess at the end of the day, I really was selfish enough to not want Colby to like any friend as much as she liked me. I was also pretty sure she would have broken poor Marissa if she'd squeezed her that tightly, anyway.

"You be sure to keep an eye on that Courtney for the both of us, alright?" Marissa told Colby.

"Don't you worry about that," Colby assured her with a firm nod. "I've got that situation covered."

Marissa had already said her goodbyes to my family. On top of embarrassing my father and amusing my mother greatly, she'd also went about teasing Oliver and his face ended up about as red as a tomato. I was pretty sure any teasing Oliver did still get here and there from me was going to be tame in comparison. Like. . .he'd be thanking his lucky stars I'm the one picking at him from now on.

The girls left and Marissa and I climbed up onto the wagon. Well, Marissa needed a little help getting up there, but she ultimately got up there. Her bag was in the back and I was driving her to the mountain road that led back to the city. Apparently she had made arrangements with a taxi service to meet her at a particular spot on that particular day at a particular time.

When we got there, I found it kind of funny as I grabbed her bag and hauled it toward the open trunk of the taxi. I even started laughing.

Marissa put her hands on her hips and asked "What has you so amused?"

I motioned between her, the bag, and the taxi. The driver took the bag and put it inside as I took a step back. It didn't escape my notice that the driver had a harder time picking up the bag than I had. "You know, this. The whole bag and taxi and leaving thing. Last time it was you helping me leave the city. This time it's me helping you go back to the city. It's like deja vu, only not."

"We have to be leaving soon, ma'am," the driver told Marissa as he tapped his watch.

"Okay," she told him before she turned to me. "Get over here, you."

I went over to her and got in one last hug. She smelled like the perfume she'd had my dad make her. She smelled like Bluebell now, in a way. It seemed she was taking a sliver of my hometown back with her to the city.

"I'm going to miss you, M. Be sure to come back, you hear?" I told her as we both took a step back.

Marissa arched one impeccably groomed eyebrow at that. "Oh, I'll be back, Violet. You can count on that. After all, your father. . ." She got that dreamy look on her face again, but quickly laughed before I could say anything. "Alright, alright. Sorry. Anyway, you know I'll be back. I mean, I don't think you're crazy for coming back here anymore. I understand now. I guess I just needed to see all of this for myself to finally really know what you were talking about. Really, though, I get it now."

With a sigh, I said "I really am bummed that you won't be able to attend the Snow Festival, though. The festivals around these parts really are great."

"Don't worry. I'm sure I'll be around for a festival eventually. As for the Snow Festival, try not to freeze your little cold weather-hating self half to death, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed.

"One more time before I hit the road?" she threw out there as she opened up her arms.

"Oh, why not?" I said as I went in for another hug. After a minute I said "Now get outta here before I change my mind and drag you back to the farm."

No more words were spoken between us. Marissa climbed into the taxi. The driver tipped his hat at me. Marissa pressed her face to the glass, then remembered the taxi germs and made an icky little face. Then she waved at me enthusiastically as the taxi started pulling away. I waved back and I stood there until they disappeared from sight, completely disregarding the cold snow that started to fall around me.


	27. The Snow Festival

**Author's Note:** I posted **two** chapters today so if you haven't read the other one yet then be sure to go back and do so!

* * *

Why was I going to participate in the Snow Festival? Why? It was a bad idea. A very, very bad idea. Snow really wasn't my friend when it came down to it. Snowmen? No. Snow angels? Nuh-uh. A snowball fight? Oh heck no! Don't even think about throwing a cold, packed-together glob of snow at me. I will end you. _I will end you._ Yet there I was, walking to Konohana with my brother, going to participate in the festival.

"If you're going to look so miserable about it then why are you even going?" he asked me as I snuggled a little closer to his side to steal his body heat. He was shooting me that look that dad did whenever he thought I was doing something stupid, even though he'd never use that actual word on me.

"I honestly don't know." That was true enough.

"Just go home," he told me in a no-nonsense way. It irked me. I pinched his arm. "Ouch!"

Oliver stood there rubbing at his arm and Dale walked up. Serena and Dale were twins, but they really didn't look all that much alike. Serena looked like a much taller version of the Oracle and Willow, but she had piercing green eyes and preferred to keep her pink hair cut to her shoulders. Dale looked just like his father, Dirk, with the exception of his pink eyes. Apparently he was like my father and pretty secure in his masculinity because the color didn't bother him at all, just like smelling like flowers didn't bother my dad. I really liked Dale. He was my favorite of my brother's friends.

"Violet, did you pinch him?" Dale asked with a grin that oozed good-nature as he gestured toward Oliver's arm.

"Yes," I told him in the same no-nonsense tone Oliver had used on me.

Dale raised his hand and went in for a hi-five, which I met halfway. "Sweet."

"Traitor," Oliver grumbled before he stalked off.

"See ya, Violet," Dale said before he turned and followed after my brother.

I wasn't worried. Oliver had made a beeline straight to where I saw Kimberly so he'd forget all about that little pinch within the next ten seconds.

"Snow, snow, snow!" Willow pretty much sang as she twirled around. She was so short and so happy about it that she kind of looked like a twelve year old. A beautiful, adorable twelve year old, but I wasn't going to tell her that because then she'd get that angry kitten look on her face. The only person who was more paranoid about looking too young than Keiko was Willow. "I love snow! It's just so. . ." She trailed off when she saw me. "Oh, Violet. You came."

"Geez, Will. Don't sound excited or anything."

"Oh no. No, no. I'm glad you're here!" she said enthusiastically. "I just didn't expect for you to be here because, you know, winter. Cold. Snow. _So_ not your thing."

"Violet, are you sure you want to participate?" Rahi asked me from where he stood. His son, Shang, was an actual twelve year old and standing right next to him.

"Yes, Rahi. I'm going to build a snowman like everybody else in attendance and it's going to be the most beautiful snowman you ever did lay your eyes upon."

He looked at me kind of dubiously, but said nothing more on the matter. I kind of was questioning my decision to come, though. Walking around in the cold to get from point A to point B was one thing. Standing there waiting for a chance to put my hands in the cold snow for this festival was another.

"Violet, what are you doing here?" Colby asked as she put an arm around my shoulder and squeezed me so hard against her side that I idly wondered if I would bruise.

"I'm here to participate, Col. You know, build a snowman and all that jazz."

"Vi, you're going to be grouchy as all get-out by the time this festival is done."

"I am not!" I insisted, definitely disagreeing with her. "I'm going to be the most pleasant person I can be."

"The most pleasant person you can be when you have prolonged exposure to actual snow is not the most pleasant person I have ever seen. I'm kind of bummed that Marissa didn't stick around for the festival, though."

"I know, right?" I admitted as I rubbed my gloved hands together. They were already cold and I hadn't even touched any snow yet. Great. "Then again, I'm not so sure she would've wanted to chance it. I mean, if any snow were to get into her hair she would freak. Snow is wet. If anything wet gets in her hair, her hair goes poof. Frizz city. She hates that."

Colby wandered off to go chat with Ina about something and I hurried over to where I saw Cheryl and Phillip arriving with all of their children. When I say all, I mean that little goddaughter of mine was there as well. Phillip said hi and then moved on ahead with the rest of the children.

"There's my best girl!" I cooed as I hurried over to where Cherl was standing with the baby. Cheryl immediately placed baby Violet in my arms. She looked adorable and toasty warm in the little outfit that I was absolutely positive Jessica had made her. "What are you doing here, little lady?"

"She's not going to stay long," Cheryl told me as she smiled down at the baby in my arms. "She's still too young, I think, to be out in this cold. But it's her first Snow Festival, you know? I wanted her to at least make an appearance."

I shifted baby Violet in my arms and placed her against my chest, near my shoulder. I patted her back gently and kissed her soft little cheek. "Of course you had to make a special appearance, didn't you? It's because you're special."

"Oh dear. Would you look at that. Already?" Cheryl said, shaking her head as she saw her kids getting a little too rowdy for Phillip to handle on his own. Christina was especially excited and was definitely giving him the hardest time. "I'll be back in a minute, Violet."

Cheryl went to corral the other kids and I stood there having the baby all to myself. When she started to cry a little, I bounced back and forth gently on my feet while humming a song. She immediately calmed down.

"You're so good with her," I heard a voice as smooth as honey say. When I looked up, there was Akito walking toward us with his little sister, Annabelle. She had _very_ long auburn hair and big, beautiful brown eyes.

"I try to be," I said as I smiled between him and the baby. "Hey there, Annabelle."

"Hello Violet and. . .Violet," she said with a giggle. "Oh, she's so _cute_!" Annabelle stepped forward and kissed baby Violet's cheek. "I want one of these."

Akito looked like he'd just taken a swallow of a drink and was trying not to spit it out all over the place. "Yeah, maybe in about twenty years. You know, when you're older. And of course you will have to be married, then and I'll have to approve of the guy you've married. Then, _maybe_ then, you can have this hypothetical baby" he sputtered in a voice that sounded kind of panicked.

Annabelle rolled her eyes and poked him in the chest. "Not twenty years, but certainly not tomorrow big brother. Don't worry. I want a baby, but I'm definitely not ready for one yet." She blushed a little, clearly embarrassed by her brother. "Anyway, I think I just spotted Dale so I'm out. See you later."

She made a swift escape to join Dale and I felt kind of sorry for her. I turned an eye on Akito and he certainly didn't look apologetic. He saw me eying him and said "What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

He let out a sigh before he rubbed his forehead like he was getting a headache. "It was an automatic reaction. She's my baby sister, you know? I'm protective of her."

"I know," I said with a smile as I swept my eyes across the crowd and located Oliver. I knew what it was like to be the protective older sibling. "It was actually kind of cute how you couldn't help yourself and sprang into big brother mode."

"You think I'm cute, huh?"

I might have stumbled if I wasn't very aware of the fact that there was a baby in my arms. As it was, I had to take a minimum of five seconds to collect myself before I formed an answer. "Not as cute as baby Violet, but you have your moments," I told him with a laugh as I stopped my bouncing and looked down at the baby.

"Speaking of, will you please hand my goddaughter over so I can get a little time with her?" he asked as he reached out for the baby.

"She's my goddaughter, too, you know," I pointed out as I acquiesced to his request.

Akito held the baby close and smiled down at her with a kind of tenderness that I'd never seen from him before. I stood there staring at him like an idiot and it kind of felt like all the air had vanished from the planet. I was breathless. Baby Violet reached up and curled her little hand around one of his fingers. He closed his eyes for a second as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"You look beautiful today," he said to the baby as he maintained that tenderness that threatened to undo me. "What's that?" he asked her as he leaned his ear down as if he were letting her speak into it. "You think that the other Violet over there looks beautiful, too? You're right. She does. What? You want me to tell her you think she's pretty and you like her coat?" The baby reached up with her other hand and grabbed his ear. "Ow. Okay, okay. I'll do it! I promise. What? No, I don't break promises to ladies. My mom taught me better than that."

I laughed at this little show, especially the part where she'd grabbed his ear. There was something entirely heartwarming about seeing them together. "You okay over there?"

"Yep," he said as he stood up straight again and looked at me with those amber eyes of his. "Um, little Violet here wants me to tell you that she thinks you're pretty and she likes your coat," he told me.

"Is that so?" I asked as I stepped forward and adjusted her little hat. "Thank you, Violet. You're the sweetest goddaughter ever."

Cheryl came back over then. "Oh, Akito! I see you're getting a little time in with the baby, too." She let out a happy sigh and shook her head. "The three of you look so adorable together, like you're a perfect fit," she mused as she stood there considering us all together. "Alright, hand her over before baby Violet decides she wants to pack her bags and move out my house to live with one of you."

Akito handed her back over to Cheryl and we each got another kiss in. "Are you taking her home now?" I asked as she held the baby close.

"I am. The kids are behaving themselves now and Phillip's fine so I'm going to take this one back to the farm before she catches cold. Say bye-bye, baby." Cheryl lifted the baby's hand and waved it for her.

"Bye," Akito and I said at the same time, waving at our little goddaughter as they made their exit. Considering we were so close to her farm at the moment, at least she had a short walk to get there.

I stood there looking at Akito, remembering the way he'd looked with baby Violet in his arms. He'd looked so natural, so at ease, which was probably thanks to being an older sibling just like I was. He was definitely going to make a great, if somewhat overprotective, father someday. Then, a very unwelcome thought crossed my mind. Someday, Akito would probably have a child, yet there was a chance that the mother of said child would be. . .

"I see you're here alone, Ki. Where's, uh. . .Courtney?" I asked reluctantly, doing my very best not to make a sour face as I forced my mouth to say her name.

Akito frowned and shook his head. "She didn't want to come. She tried to talk me out of coming, too, but here I am." It looked like there was more to that story since he seemed to be mulling something over in his head, but I could tell from the stubborn set of his jaw he didn't want to divulge more information so I decided not to press him on it. I got the impression that I knew what it was, though. Him and Courtney had been arguing and I had a feeling that a lot of that had been going on lately. "Come to think of it, why are you here, Violet?"

"Why does everybody keep asking me stuff like that?" I asked in an exasperated tone.

A smile graced Akito's lovely face and pushed that frown far, far away. "Because you're _really_ not a fan of cold weather, but you really kind of hate snow."

I played with the ends of my new scarf and shrugged noncommittally even though he was absolutely right. He laughed because my silence was enough to tell him that I'd acknowledged that he was right. We stood there in a companionable silence for a few minutes and I watched as some of the children were growing restless as they waited for the festival to officially begin. Some of them were throwing snowballs at each other. Others were making snow angels. I cringed. I literally cringed. Yes, why was I at this festival?

Akito started laughing then, straight out of nowhere, and I shot him one of those 'are you crazy' looks because he was kind of laughing like a madman over there. When he saw me giving him that look, he laughed a little harder. Once he regained his composure he said "Sorry, Vi, but I was just remembering something. It's actually one of my favorite memories."

"Is that so?" I questioned as I crossed my arms over my chest to preserve my body heat. "It must be a pretty good memory if it cracks you up that much."

Akito went over to one of the benches over by the town's gate. There was a dusting of snow on it that he cleared away with a brush of his arm before he sat down. Akito leaned forward and put his elbow on his leg before propping his chin on his open palm. He was looking at me expectantly and I took the spot next to him. I pulled out the thermos I had brought with me and took a sip of my drink. It was a mixture of coffee and hot chocolate. That was a pretty good combination in my opinion.

"I was just thinking about an old friend of mine. Maybe you know her." That was a silly question. I knew everybody in Bluebell and Konohana. I took a healthy swig of my drink. "Once upon a time, she was called 'Violent Violet.'"

Upon hearing that, I immediately started to choke on that drink of mine. Akito reached out and patted my back firmly, but gently and by the time I was able to breath again, there was moisture in the corner of my eyes. " _Violent Violet_?" I managed to get out.

I remembered what he was talking about perfectly. How could I not, considering I was _the_ Violent Violet in question? The incident had happened in winter. We were young at the time and the boys were going through that phase where they thought that girls had cooties. Jackson and Akito were standing behind the statue in the town square of Bluebell and refused to come out saying that I was going to infect them with my nasty girl germs. They even came up with some mean little song about it and the more they sang it, the angrier I got. Colby had grabbed onto my arm and told me we should go to Konohana and hang out with the other girls since girls were obviously smarter than boys and we didn't want to become dumb like those two were.

They had made some smart little remark as we were turning to go and I ignored that, but one of them threw a snowball that hit me right in the middle of my back. And both of them knew quite well that I didn't like snow. The next thing I knew, I had marched behind the statue and pushed Akito down in the middle of the town square. My dad had rushed over from his shop and Aunt Laney had come out of the cafe to scold the boys before sending Jackson inside and escorting Akito home. I could have just as easily lost it on Jackson since he was just as much at fault as Akito was. For some reason, though, that behavior seemed to hurt me more when it was coming from Akito so I had channeled my anger out on him. After that, though, the two of them called me Violent Violet for a while. Also, my father had been strangely happy since I didn't play with either them for a good long while after that

"Are you ready to fess up and tell me which one of you threw that snowball, Ki?"

He smirked as he told me "Actually, it was Jackson."

"I knew I should have pushed him down, too!" I exclaimed as I shot up off the bench. "I mean, he'd been picking on me, too, so snowball or no snowball he had it coming."

"True enough, but you taught me an important lesson that day just by watching you," he spoke as I sat back down next to him.

"Oh?"

"Yes." The corners of his lips quirked up as he tried to fight a smile. "A gentleman should never tease a lady. And he shouldn't stand idly by and let her get hit by a snowball if he can help it."

I smiled brightly at him as I thought about just how much of a gentleman he'd been to me once the Violent Violet thing cooled down and I actually started talking to him again. "Being a teacher was never my calling, but I'm glad I got to school you."

"C'mon you two," Colby said as she appeared and tugged on our arms, bringing us to our feet. "It's about to begin."

The festival had changed from what it had been way back in the day. For one thing, there were no more snow sculptures. Now, everybody got together in little groups and came up with their own unique snowman. If somebody wanted to work individually, then they could do that, too. When all of the snowmen were done, everybody looked at each other's and had a good time talking about how they all turned out.

Rahi was standing there in the middle of the road with Ying by his side explaining how the festival was supposed to go down. He motioned over toward the baskets that had been provided with supplies we could use to decorate the snowmen. And he explained that it was a group event and not a contest. Everybody was a winner at the end of the day.

When he was done talking, Colby said "Hey, wanna be in a group together?"

That was a silly question. Whenever it came to something like that, Colby and I always paired up. "Okay. Hey, Ki, do you want to join us, too?"

He shrugged, but I could tell he was pleased by the invitation. After all, Jackson was out of town and Makoto and Keiko were being extra lovey-dovey around each other due to their upcoming wedding. I wouldn't want to intrude on that either.

"Yeah, join us! I need an extra person to help me with the snow since we both know Violet doesn't really want to touch it."

"Alright, I'm in," he agreed as Colby gave him a hi-five.

"Hey, I'm going to help with the snow, too!" I declared as I bent down and stuck my hands into the cold white stuff I had always preferred to look at from the other side of a window. It was cold. Cold, cold, cold. And wet. I snatched my hands back up and shook the snow off my gloves. "On second thought," I told them before I retrieved my thermos and took another drink to warm myself. "I think I'll just help you guys decorate. Actually, you two can leave the decorating to me. I'll do a fantastic job with that."

I kept feeling like somebody was watching me, kind of like somebody was staring holes into the back of my head. Every time I looked around, though, I didn't see anybody paying me attention. On a whim, I glanced over at Kana's shop and thought I might have seen movement by one of the windows. I couldn't be sure, though. I shook off my paranoia and really got into the swing of things, putting my entire attention on the snowman the three of us were crafting. By the time we were done, I was pretty sure it was the best snowman Konohana had ever seen.


	28. Winter Harmony Trepidation

I was up bright and early on the day of Winter Harmony, hard at work in the kitchen. As I stood there in front of the oven, I wondered if things had worked out right with the package I had sent. Jackson was still out of town, but I had not forgotten the delicious brownies he had given me for Spring Harmony. Granted, he hadn't baked them himself, but he'd bought them and given them to me and that definitely counted in my book. Jackson had told me that if I needed to get in touch with him then Laney had all of the information I'd need. I had felt rather awkward going to her and asking her to provide me with her son's current whereabouts, but she had managed to put me at ease and I finally realized that interacting with this half of my family would only ever be as awkward as _I_ made it. Even Lauren was treating me as she normally would, although for a week there she'd given me this look. . .Anyway, I couldn't let Jackson go without something chocolate even if he wasn't in town. Therefore, I had made him a special chocolate treat and then shipped it through Dirk to the address that Laney said he was currently at for the week.

Thinking about Jackson caused a little twinge of sadness. After all, I'd thought I wouldn't be single on Winter Harmony this year like I'd been on Spring Harmony, yet there I was. I was okay with that, though. I'd always been okay with being single whenever I was single. I don't know. I guess it's just whenever I thought about how things didn't work out with Jackson and how much energy I had put into accepting him and trying to make it work, I just felt bad. I especially felt bad whenever I thought about the fact that even though I hadn't been using Jackson to get over Akito and I'd been genuinely interested in making our relationship work, I had still had those very deep and very real feelings for Akito the entire time, even if I'd tried not to think about them. Jackson deserved to get chocolate from a woman whose heart belonged to him and only him and someday I hoped he would. Of course, even then he would still get chocolate from me. After all, it was our group's tradition. Dating, engaged, married, single, whatever. Everybody got chocolate from each other in our group. And today, if my timing had been right, Jackson would be getting chocolate from me.

My mom was sitting at the table sipping on coffee while she watched me. She'd baked something for Oliver, just as she always had because he was the official substitute for my father for the day. After all, my dad hated chocolate and never let her give him anything on Winter Harmony. Of course, he always gave her something on Spring Harmony and she didn't like not being able to reciprocate in kind, but she'd always accepted it because not giving him anything was better than giving him something and seeing that look on his face that said 'I don't want to not accept it, but I'd really rather not accept it. But I'll accept it because you're my wife and I love you more than the air I breathe.' Or something like that. I knew he felt guilty about her not being able to give him anything and that was why, even though it was a Monday, he was still in town and always stayed in town whenever the holiday fell on a Monday.

"Do you think that it'll arrive today? I mean, I don't want it to get there late and I certainly don't want it to go bad before he gets it. I don't want Jackson to come home and say that I gave him food poisoning from bad chocolate stuff or anything. Do you think it'll be fine?" I asked her as I opened the oven a little bit to check on the progress of what was inside.

"It will get there right on time. It will not spoil before he gets it. It will all be fine," she told me in that soothing motherly tone that she probably mastered the second I came out of the womb and made my entrance into the world.

"You're right. Right? I'm probably obsessing over nothing. It's just. . ."

She sat her cup down and looked at me in that knowing way of hers. "Relax, sweetie. Okay? I know you have all these feelings going on inside of you because it's Winter Harmony and things didn't work out with Jackson. I can assure you, though, that today will be fine. He will get that package. He will see it's from you. And he'll be grateful that he was still being thought of today even though he's not home for the holiday."

Mom was right, of course. She was always right. I stopped hovering by the oven and sat down at the table to return my attention to my own cup of coffee. I looked up as my dad walked into the kitchen. He kissed me on top of my head and then kissed my mother on the lips and said "My Lily." He'd been calling her that ever since they officially got together, according to mom, and nobody else was allowed to call her that but him. "I have a proposal."

"You proposed to me over two decades ago," she told him in an amused tone as she smoothed his bangs and adjusted the hat on his head.

"It's not that kind of proposal," he told her with an amused tone of his own while he stayed bent down and so close to her face that I wondered if I should leave the kitchen and give them a little privacy. "I was wondering if you would like to take a walk outside of town with me." Other than the flowerbed and by the river, that was his favorite place to go. "And after that, maybe we can go to the cafe and we can. . .We can have some hot chocolate."

My mother froze and looked up at him disbelievingly. "Hot chocolate?" When he nodded, she repeated "Hot _chocolate_?"

He seemed to blush a little, but he didn't tug at his hat to hide himself from my mother as he said "Yes."

"And you're going to drink it?"

"Yes," he said again in confirmation.

"Do I get to buy you this hot chocolate?" she asked hopefully.

"You do," he assured her.

She beamed at him and kissed him before saying "That sounds like a wonderful plan. I'll go get my coat."

He stood up straight and helped her out of her chair before pushing it back against the table while she strolled out the kitchen to get ready. He glanced over and I was pretty sure he'd somehow managed to forget I was even in the room. He rubbed the back of his head and looked away from me as I smiled. Then he left the kitchen as well when he remembered that he'd be needing to put his own coat on if he was going to take this walk with mom.

I continued my baking while they were gone. Baking was something I had always been exceptionally good at from a young age, so I always took extra special care when it came to Winter Harmony. I wanted whatever I made to turn out absolutely perfect because, after all, I had a reputation to uphold considering I used to bake the desserts over at the cafe when I worked there part time as a teenager.

I had made something for Oliver considering he'd made me something for Spring Harmony since he knew how much I loved chocolate. My treat for Makoto was done and packed up. Now I was just waiting on what I was making for Akito. I was just taking it out the oven when I heard some loud knocking at the front door. After sitting the pan down and taking of the oven mitt, I hustled over to the front door and opened it up. Colby was standing there looking her best, all decked out in uncharacteristically girly clothes, coat included, and I knew that could only mean one thing.

"Are you still baking?" she asked as I moved aside and motioned her to hurry inside before anymore of that cold air blasted me.

"I just took the last of it out of the oven," I told her as I closed the door behind her. I crossed my arms over my chest as I observed her.

"I already made the rounds. Makoto has what he's getting. In case you're wondering where Akito is today, he's in Bluebell. At least he was a minute ago when I gave him his chocolate. That will save you the trouble of having the hunt him down. You know how he likes to bounce back and forth between the two towns and. . ."

"Are you heading over to Buena Vista?" I asked her, unable to keep the question to myself any longer.

She turned to look at me and fiddled with her hair in that un-Colby way she only got about her whenever Ignacio was involved. "Yes."

With a sigh, I said "Col, he never comes to town to bring you anything when he knows it's Spring Harmony here."

She didn't like having that pointed out to her and I could tell by the look on her face and the stubborn straightening of her spine. "I know that, Violet. But I can't expect for him to come over here for every Bluebell or Konohana holiday. They have their own things going on over in Buena Vista that he has to keep up with."

For some reason, I really couldn't keep my mouth shut even though I know Colby and I know that the more you push her on an issue, the more she pulls in the opposite direction. That was especially the case whenever it came to Ignacio and I'd learned long ago to hold my tongue on my opinions where he was concerned. Colby liked to give advice, but she hated to take it. I knew that. Yet my mouth just kept on talking.

"You make the effort to be there for the important Buena Vista festivals."

"He makes it over here for festivals, Violet," she said defensively. "You know he does."

He did sometimes. You know, whenever the wind shifted directions and the mood hit him. "He never comes for the _important_ festivals." And by that, she knew that I was talking about Spring Harmony, Winter Harmony and the Starry Night festival. Whenever it came to those important and romantic events, he was nowhere to be found. He liked to put on a good show whenever he was in town, but he never made the effort to be around for the truly romantic events. At least, he'd stopped making that kind of effort a year or two into their relationship.

Colby was good and mad now and I knew it because her head was tilted down slightly, her fist was raised and clenched, and if all of that wasn't telling enough then the expression she wore was. It spoke volumes. "He cares, Violet. He loves me. We've been together for a long time. I don't need him to always be around to know how much I mean to him."

I shook my head, feeling truly bad about this because I knew she was wrong, absolutely wrong. I didn't want to call her a doormat. I didn't want to say those words. I knew that to Ignacio, that was what she was, though, and I knew that when she finally realized that it was going to be awful for her. "Colby. I know you don't want to hear this, but. . ."

"Enough, Violet," she snapped, her nostrils flaring slightly like an angry bull that was getting ready to charge.

I knew she wasn't going to hit me or anything. Colby would _never_ hit me out of actual anger even if she smacked me playfully or out nearly squeezed the life out of me with her hugs. Even if she sometimes shake me back and forth when she was frustrated by me. Colby would never hit me. She did look like she was close to saying something to me that she might regret, though. Maybe she was going to say something like 'What do you know considering you've certainly never been in a seven year relationship?' or 'How can you stand there preaching to me when you and Jackson just broke up?' Whatever she was thinking about letting pass through her lips, though, I'd already decided that I would forgive her for it no matter what. She was my best friend. She was in denial. I loved her enough not to let words I knew she didn't mean come between us.

"Colby," I started.

She unclenched that fist and held her hand up between us. She took a deep breath and I could tell that she'd regained control of herself and wasn't about to say anything that I'd have to forgive her for. Colby was still good and mad, but she wasn't about to lash out at me. "I don't want to let the day get away from me. I think it's time I head over to Buena Vista. Don't worry, Vi, I'll be sure to tell _Iggy_ you said hello," she told me, using the nickname I used for Ignacio even though I knew he hated it. That was the only barb she was going to send my way and I was actually relieved by that.

I said nothing. There really wasn't anything more for me to say. So I stood there and watched her open the door. For a second, I thought she might slam it behind her, but she seemed to think better of it and gave it a firm closing instead. After all, she was mad at me and not the door. I hadn't meant to get anything started. I hadn't meant to potentially ruin her day. I knew Colby like the back of my hand and I was well aware that saying what I did would tick her off even if it was the truth. Still, though, I'd said what I'd said and I just hoped that my words wouldn't ultimately push her even more into Ignacio's arms.

For a while I just stood there staring at the door, thinking back on the argument. Eventually I remembered the chocolate goodies I had waiting for me in the kitchen. I remembered that there were guys out there waiting for my little deliveries. I felt badly about what had just transpired between me and Colby, but I didn't actually feel bad about what I'd said. Rather, I felt bad _for_ Colby. In the end, though, I couldn't let that ruin the whole entire day because Colby would get over it, probably by tomorrow. Still, though, she was on my mind very much as I packed up my stuff and put it inside my rucksack. She was on my mind as I stood at the end of the driveway considering whether I should go to Bluebell and see Akito or head over to Konohana and find Makoto. She was certainly on my mind when I decided Konohana was my first destination and had a chat with Keiko about her. I didn't stay long chatting with Keiko after giving Makoto his chocolate, though, because it really was a romantic day for them and I didn't want to intrude. Makoto had put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, though, when I was on my way out. He'd never liked Ignacio either.

I stopped at the tea house to get something hot to drink and recharge before I braved the cold again, mulling over my conversation with Colby the whole time. For some reason, today of all days just didn't sit well with me. That was why I'd opened my mouth and said something even though I knew how she'd react. For some reason, today I'd felt the need to warn her. After a while of staring down into my cup, I realized my drink was cold and decided I'd better get going. Ying had been shooting me concerned looks and I let out a sigh. It seemed that I actually had started to let what had happened with Colby ruin my day.

Colby had told me that Akito was in Bluebell. Still, though, I couldn't help looking over at Kana's shop as I made my way toward the tunnel. I felt like somebody was watching me and again, I thought I saw movement over by one of the windows of the shop. And again, I felt like I was just seeing things. The wind seemed to be trying to cut right through me as I emerged on the other side of the tunnel. Looking up at the sky, I noticed that the sky was looking a little different. It didn't bode well.

As I entered Bluebell, I noticed Jessica making her way back toward home. She noticed me and waved and I waved back. Nearly as soon as the door shut behind her, I heard "Lillian Jr."

When I looked over, I saw Kana standing in front of Georgia's barn. It was then that my brain chose to remember the story my mom had told me about the time Kana had kissed her. ' _There he is. Akito's father. Akito's father who totally had the hots for my mom back in the day and kissed her. His lips touched hers before my dad's did. Wow, this is awkward._ '

"Hey, Kana," I said, trying not to be awkward due to the new knowledge my mother had bestowed upon me. It was ancient history, after all. My mom was happily married to my dad. He was happily married to Georgia. He was friends with my dad now. It wasn't my place to feel weird about it. So I relaxed and smiled. "Has Georgia given you something chocolate and delicious for Winter Harmony?"

"Of course. She was up bright and early this morning. Dessert was my breakfast."

"Colby told me that Akito was in Bluebell today. Is he in the shop?"

"He's in the barn," Kana said as he jabbed his thumb back toward where he'd just come from. "I'm heading in so he's all yours."

Kana whistled some little tune as he hopped the fence and headed off toward the shop. I climbed over and crossed the pasture. Just as Kana had said, there was Akito. He was brushing one of the horses and I saw that it was Delilah. Apparently he'd finally decided to move her to Georgia's shop so there would be more people around to keep an eye on her.

"Ah, it seems like I've found just who I was looking for," I said as I made my way into the barn.

"You were looking for me, huh?" Akito said before he leaned down to speak to Delilah. "You see that? I told you she'd be around today. She can never stay away from me for too long."

I rubbed Delilah's face and she started to nuzzle into my hand. "What makes you think that I wasn't looking for Delilah?" I asked as I gave her a horse treat I happened to have in my pocket.

Akito put the brush he'd been using up before he put his hands in his pockets and pretended to look thoughtful. "Well, because obviously Delilah is a horse and therefore she doesn't eat chocolate."

"Okay, Mr. Smarty Pants," I spoke as I poked him in the chest. "What makes you think that I have chocolate with me today?"

He pretended to look thoughtful again before he said "Because it's Winter Harmony."

I realized then that he was standing so close to me that I could feel his body heat and smell that fresh laundry scent of him. Boom-clap. Game over. "Alright," I relented kind of woozily as I took a couple of steps away from him and took off my rucksack. "I brought something chocolate for you."

I pulled the container out of my rucksack and handed it over to him. He opened up the lid and looked down at it. "Is this. . .?"

"It is a triple chocolate pizza," I declared as the scent of it wafted to my nose. It was chocolate. It smelled good. I loved chocolate.

"Violet, it's a giant triple chocolate cookie," he told me with a quirk of his brows.

"True. It's sliced like a pizza, though," I informed him as I pointed down at the giant cookie.

"I _love_ chocolate cookies, Vi," he told me with a smile in his golden eyes. They looked like two suns shining upon me so brightly that I faintly wondered what all that stuff had been earlier that had made me feel all conflicted and upset. I forgot momentarily about the Jackson stuff and the Colby stuff. At the moment, it was just me and Akito.

"I know." Of course I knew that. I knew all of Akito's favorites and even more than chocolate ice cream, he absolutely loved chocolate cookies. It was his favorite dessert, point blank, and certainly his favorite chocolate anything.

The smile in his eyes spread to the rest of his face. "You gave me a huge chocolate cookie?"

"Well, it's sliced like a pizza, so. . ."

"Thanks," he said as he took a step forward and did something that he hadn't done in many, many years. He kissed me on my forehead. His lips lingered there, warm and welcome, and when he pulled away I had that boom-clap thing going on again at a thousand miles per hour. It was a sweet kiss. It was an innocent kiss. It wasn't the kind of kiss I'd seen him give to Courtney. It wasn't the kind of kiss I'd longed for that day I'd fallen in Konohana right before I'd had all those painful thoughts in the clinic. That simple little kiss meant something to me, though. "This is the best chocolate I've gotten all day."

I cleared my throat three times and took a couple of steps back for self-preservation. I took a few more additional seconds to regain my Drayton composure. Akito moved toward the front of the barn and motioned me after him. I followed behind and said something stupid. After all, I'd been doing a lot of saying stupid things today. "What about Courtney? Didn't she give you anything?" I immediately wanted to bang my head against the outside of the barn.

Akito smacked his free hand over his forehead and ran it down his face before making it to his chin. "She. . ."

I threw both of my hands up and said "Hey, Ki. Nevermind, okay? Forget I asked. We don't have to talk about that." ' _Stupid, stupid, stupid_. _You're really stepping in it today, aren't you_?'

He let out a sigh and smiled entirely for my benefit, but I could tell that it was fake. "It's just. . .yeah, she gave me something. After Keiko stopped by and gave me something chocolate, too, Courtney got mad. I explained to her that it's our group's tradition, you know? I told her that I gave Keiko and all the others in our group something chocolate for Spring Harmony so she was just returning the favor."

"It _is_ our tradition. Surely she can understand that?"

"She didn't," Akito told me as he looked down at the triple chocolate cookie pizza I'd given him. "That's why I came over to Bluebell. I didn't want to go through it with her again when I knew you and Colby would be bringing me something so I figured it'd be best if I got my gifts here."

"Oh, Ki. Hey, I can take that back if you. . ."

He smiled again and this time it was genuine. It reached his eyes as he said "No, ma'am. This is _my_ giant cookie sliced like a pizza and I won't be returning it."

I was quiet for a few moments before I asked "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," he told me immediately. "I'm sure."

"Akito. . ." I started. I didn't get to finish that sentence though, because that was when I saw Colby's horse, with Colby on it, come full-speed up the road. Without missing a beat, it jumped the fence into the pasture and dashed into the barn. It was quick, but not so quick that I hadn't seen the look on Colby's face. It hadn't been the angry expression she'd left my house with. It was. . .

Akito was thoroughly confused as he looked over toward where Colby had disappeared. "What is that all about?"

That bad feeling I'd had all day grew exponentially within those moments. My stomach was in knots. I placed a hand on Akito's shoulder to get his attention. When he looked at me I said "I'll see you later, okay?"

He nodded and I hopped over one fence and then the other, feeling like I might throw up. This was it, I knew. This was the day I had always known would come, but had always dreaded. Even though I'd always known it would come, as I stepped into the barn I found that I actually wasn't ready for it. I wasn't ready to see Colby standing there looking broken as she removed everything from her horse. I wasn't ready for the slumped shoulders or the hiccups brought on from her tears. I certainly wasn't ready to see her tears. Colby had always been tough. Any time she was with Ignacio, she was always at her most vulnerable. Any other time, she was tough. Now, though she looked broken. I could never have prepared myself for seeing my best friend broken like that.

With mournful eyes, she looked up at me. She smiled. It was watery, ironic, insincere smile, bitter and it was heartbreaking in its quality. It was a heartbreaking smile from a broken heart. "I-Ignacio," she whispered as that awful smile fell from her face. "He's been cheating on me."


	29. Soldier

**Author's Note:** Aaah! I'm sorry I left you guys hanging for such a long time. . .again. I was gone traveling for a week and forgot my flashdrive with the chapters on it at home. But I finally arrived home today, after a thirteen hour layover, just in time to celebrate my birthday so I'm sending this lovely chapter your way.

* * *

"What?!" I practically yelled.

Then Colby did something I'd never seen her do in front of me. She brought her hands up to her face and began sobbing into them. I rushed forward and put my arms around her, pulling her against me. This was my tough as nails best friend literally crying in my arms and that did things to me. I'd never seen Colby so unhinged before. I stood there and just held her for a few minutes, squeezing her as hard as she would have squeezed me. Well, not quite as hard because Colby was stronger than me, but still pretty hard. And I did that because even though squeezes like those could leave bruises, they actually felt pretty good because so much love prompted them. Then I smoothed my hand over the back of her hair and rubbed her back for another minute while she calmed down some.

She started hiccuping as she said "H-He. I-I saw. . ."

"Shh. Hey, now. Try to calm down some so you can tell me what happened. Do you want to go to your room so we can talk this out?"

Colby fervently shook her head. "N-N-No. I don't want to go in there j-just yet."

I understood what she wasn't saying. She didn't want anybody else to see her how she was now, not even her family. Perhaps especially not her family. It would be bad enough for her when she told them about the breakup. She didn't need them having this visual of her in their minds in addition to that.

"Okay then. How about. . ." I looked around and saw the boxes we'd sat on before when she'd manhandled me and had me tell her all about Jackson before. "How about we stay here where we have our privacy? We can sit over there on those boxes and I'll wait as long as you want. Or you don't even have to tell me at all and I can just sit with you until you're ready to go in. How does that sound?"

Colby nodded and I gently took her by the arm as I led her over to the boxes. I sat down on the same box as her and put my arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. She sat there for a little while just staring at her horse. When she'd had her fill of that, she moved on to staring at a few cows that were clustered together trying to avoid the cold of the pasture. Her breathing finally started to even out some and then she said "The funny thing is, I brought this on myself."

"What? Colby, don't be preposterous. You didn't bring this on yourself."

She gave a rueful laugh that was devoid of even the smallest smidgeon of humor. "Oh yes I did. You've tried to tell me ever since we got together that he was bad news. And me? Of course I didn't listen to you. I mean, I didn't even want to hear it! I never, ever wanted to hear it. Your words pretty much went in one ear and out the other. The worst part is that I'm always aware of that. I'm the type of person who likes to give out advice on occasion, but doesn't want to hear it."

"Colby," I started before she hushed me.

"Don't, Violet, okay? Don't make excuses for me. The fact of the matter is you were right and I was wrong."

I gave her a firm shake of my head and said "Colby, I've never wanted you to say something like that to me, okay?"

"I know," she told me as she stared down at her hands and started to wring them. "You've just wanted the best for me and you always knew that the best for me wasn't Ignacio."

I fell silent then because Colby had just hit the nail on the head with that statement. After a minute or so, I found my voice. "I would never say something like 'I told you so' to you and I don't want you feeling like I was oh so right about something or you were oh so wrong." I put a finger to her lips when she turned her head and started to say something. "Nope. Nothing that I've said on the subject matters, okay? What matters is that clearly Ignacio has hurt you and I'm hoping you will decide to tell me the story."

Colby sat there miserably in silence for a few minutes before she quietly said "Like I said before, he's been cheating on me."

"How do you know this? Did somebody come up to you in Buena Vista and claim she's been seeing him?"

She worried at her bottom lip as she gave a firm shake of her head. "No. If some woman had come up to me like that, I probably would have laughed at her, called her a liar, and walked off completely oblivious. Apparently I'm the type of woman who has to see things herself in order to properly believe them."

My mouth dropped open. " _No_."

"Yes."

"W-What happened, Col?" I questioned as I put my hand over hers to stop that whole wringing thing.

With a sigh, she finally launched into her story properly. "I got into that argument with you. By the way, I'm. . ."

"Nope. Don't even say it. There isn't even any need to."

She took a deep breath before she continued. "Well, I left your house, got my horse all saddled up, and rode my ridiculous self over to Buena Vista. I thought that Ignacio was at work today, so I decided I would go to his house and surprise him. I know where the spare key is located so I got it out and let myself in. Like an idiot, I sat in his living room for about ten whole minutes before I started to hear something. Do you get it, Vi? _Ten whole minutes_! Ten minutes I sat there in his house oblivious before I finally noticed the sounds. I was sitting there for ten minutes on the couch that I helped him pick out with that stupid chocolate party cake I made him sitting on the coffee table before I knew something was up in that house!" She jumped up off the box then and rather than pacing she kind of stalked around in front of me angrily.

"You heard some sounds so then what?"

"Call me Sherlock because I went to investigate. I crept down the hall to his bedroom door and do you know what I found?"

I held up my hand and shook my head. "Don't. You don't need to go into those details. I get it."

With a rough nod, Colby managed to slow herself into a pace. "Well naturally I pulled her out the room by her hair and told her that if she didn't leave the house in thirty seconds then she was going to have to start wearing wigs from now on." Now that was the Colby I knew and loved. "After she left, it was just me and Ignacio and we got into this awful argument. B-But then he said. . ."

She trailed off before she suddenly returned to her seat and slumped forward a little. After a few seconds she leaned against me. "What did he say, Col?" She shook her head. "Tell me what he said, Colby. You don't owe him anything, not one single thing, so whatever he said I want to know it."

Colby threw her hands against her face and started sobbing again, though she didn't hiccup. "He told me that I'd been a fun little distraction over the years. I was like some doll he could get to dress up for him and take down from his shelf to play with once in a while. Then he told me that the game was up and he was growing bored with me and he kicked me out of his house. He kicked me out of his house like a piece of trash and the whole time that stupid cake was on that stupid table and it was still there when stupid me left that stupid house!"

I pulled her back to me and held her while she cried it out, the whole while thinking about everything that she'd told me. The whole time I got angrier and angrier with every tear that leaked out of Colby's eyes. By the time she finally wound down and became calm, I knew _exactly_ what I wanted to do. Wait, no. I knew exactly what I _needed_ to do. I reached inside my rucksack and pulled out a clean handkerchief. I then used that to wipe the remaining tears and streaks of makeup from her face. When that was done, I stood up and calmly stood in front of Colby. "Don't worry, Col. I'm gonna take care of it."

She looked up at me with furrowed brows etching confusion onto her face. Colby had the extreme advantage of being one of those rare pretty criers. "Take care of what?"

"What needs to be taken care of," I said rather cryptically. "Listen, it's cold out here. I think you should go inside soon. I'll see you when I get back into town."

"Wait, what?"

With that said, I promptly stomped my way out of the barn. She didn't follow me because she was probably still worried that somebody would see her all red and splotchy and upset, though I'll say once again that Colby was actually a pretty crier even if she didn't even know it. Pretty crier or not, though, I knew that Colby had her pride and it had been shattered enough for one day as it was. As soon as I hopped her fence, Akito was next to me. I wondered if he'd been waiting for me to emerge from the barn all that time.

"Violet, what's wrong?" he asked with some serious, deep concern going on in his voice.

"Why do you think something is wrong?" I asked in a deadly calm tone and realized that I definitely did not sound like myself at all.

Akito stepped in front of me so I'd have no choice but to stop. I crossed my arms over my chest as I stared up at him. "That and this," he said as he pointed at the barn and then motioned at me. "Colby came storming into town like something seriously messed up happened and then you went after her. Then when you finally come out of the barn you look like you're the top soldier in some army and you're about to go wage the war of the century!"

It wasn't the first time and I was sure it wouldn't be the last time I thought about how funny it was that Akito had that ability to get things so accurate when it came to me sometimes. "You're right, Ki. I'm about to wage myself a war and I'm going to win." I stepped around him and started stomping off again.

"Wait, wait, wait. Whoa. Violet, what happened?" I paused. "I'm not going to let you out of my sight until you give me some kind of an explanation."

I stood there and thought that over. I wasn't about to go blabbing all of Colby's business, not even to Akito. At the moment, though, I really needed to vent at least a little of my frustration. More importantly, I really needed Akito out of my way and I believed him when he told me he wasn't going to let me out of his sight until he got some kind of an explanation. He was the same guy who had refused to put me down and carried me all the way to the clinic when I was sick, after all. So I said "Ignacio hurt Colby, okay?"

"Did he hit her?" he asked with a fierce expression on his face the likes of which I'd never seen, although I was pretty sure it was still tame in comparison to whatever he was seeing on my own face. Still, though, Akito was a gentleman and I'm sure the thought of a man hitting a woman was throwing him into a tizzy.

"Whoa, down, tiger. I'm the soldier in this war and I'm about to go soldier all over the place. But no, Akito, it wasn't physical. Colby would never let something like that happen to her." Colby easily could have stomped Ignacio into the ground if she'd wanted to. "He left some deep emotional scars instead and vengeance will be mine."

Akito thought over what I had said and what I hadn't said and some kind of understanding seemed to dawn on him. I could tell the exact moment when that imaginary light bulb started to flash above his head. "He. . .?"

I stepped around him and started stomping off again. I didn't confirm nor deny his suspicions even though I was pretty sure he'd reached the correct conclusion in his head. "I'm on my way to Buena Vista."

"What? No, Violet. You don't want to do that."

"Yes I do," I insisted right before he stood in front of me again. I stumbled a little and he caught me before I went crashing into his chest.

"If you go rushing off to Buena Vista when you're this angry then you'll do something that you'll regret."

I chose my words very carefully right then. "I'm not going to do something I'll regret, Akito." That was the truth. I _so_ wasn't going to regret what I had planned. Yet I was certainly going to do something that Akito wouldn't want me to rush off and do and would try to stop if he knew what I had planned. There I was being the queen of not-quite lies and half-truths again.

Akito stood there looking at me dubiously. The next thing I knew, he switched over and started looking at me in that way he had that always made me feel like he was looking right into me. "Violet."

"I'm going to go," I started as I chose my words carefully again. "express my dissatisfaction with the way he treated Colby. Somebody needs to see him face to face and let him know that it's not okay. You don't know the story, Akito, but somebody. . .somebody has to see him face-to-face and let him know that. . ."

I trailed off then, not wanting to say what had been on my mind because that was something Colby had told me.

' _He told me that I'd been a fun little distraction over the years. I was like some doll he could get to dress up for him and take down from his shelf to play with once in a while. Then he told me that the game was up and he was growing bored with me_.'

Colby's words were ringing through my head. She wasn't just a distraction. She wasn't anybody's doll. She wasn't something to be played with and her feelings were certainly not part of a game. Somebody had to let him know that and that somebody was going to be me.

I stood there staring at Akito and he stared back at me and it was like we were in an epic stare-down that was part of an even more epic battle of wills. Unfortunately for Akito, I had an iron will at the moment and while on any other day I would have let him calm me down and be my voice of reason, today was not that day. He must have sensed that from me because he gave a weary sigh and shook his head.

"Okay. You're going to Buena Vista."

"That's the plan," I said as I stepped around him again and commenced my stomping once more.

He didn't grab me. All he did was place his hand against my arm ever so gently and that stopped me in my tracks. I slowly turned around and looked up at him.

"And I'm going with you," he declared.

"What? No, Ki. I told you that I'm the soldier and I'm about to go wage me some war, not you."

Akito looked like he truly had no idea what to do with me at the moment, which made sense because he had never seen me like this before. Come to think of it, _I_ had never seen me like this before. Watching and listening to Colby's heart break had done something to me the likes of which had never been done before. It was definitely worse than when Violent Violet had been unleashed upon Akito that day in the town square when we were kids.

"Yes, Violet. I know you and you're. . .this. . .Look, you're clearly distraught. I just think you need somebody with you when you see him."

"Akito."

"Violet," he said as he took a step closer. "Let me go with you."

I looked up into those clear, concerned golden eyes of his and silently chastised myself because he was my ultimate weakness. As I've said before, Akito was my kryptonite. "Okay," I said quietly.

He let out a relieved breath I hadn't even realized he'd been holding in. He smiled down at me cautiously before he said "Let's go get us a horse."

"You go get your horse and I'll. . ."

"Nope. Violet, I'm not letting you out of my sight. You might run off without me when I'm not looking. And if I let you ride your own horse, it will be like letting a distracted teenager drive a car. You might run an innocent horse into a tree."

"I told you we'll go together. I'm not about to go back on my word. I'm also pretty sure I'd be fine riding my a horse by myself," I told him then. He was still looking at me with that direct golden gaze, though, so I added on "For your peace of mind, though, okay. Let's go get us a horse."

For our first order of business, Akito made a quick appearance at the shop to ask his parents to let Courtney know he had something to take care of in Buena Vista if she came and asked about him. Then I walked with Akito back to Georgia's barn and watched as he found a horse for us to ride. He saddled her up and then looked at Delilah as he said "Don't worry. You're still my best horse girl." For some reason, that really warmed my heart.

Akito led the horse out of the barn and onto the road. "I believe introductions are in order and it's only polite the two of you are properly introduced before she's taken into battle. Violet, this is Mina. Mina, this is Violet."

I almost laughed at that. Akito was making it really hard to keep my focus on being the avenging little soldier at the moment. "It's nice to meet you, Mina."

With the kind of ease that could only be achieved through many years of riding horses, Akito mounted Mina. He reached his hand out to me looking like some kind of knight in shining armor up on that horse. Or maybe that was my brain romanticizing what I was seeing. Really, though, the way he looked holding his hand out to me on top of that horse made something happen.

Boom-clap.

I didn't need his help. He knew it and I knew it. I took his hand to humor him, but I mounted the horse right behind him just as easily as he had. Akito let out a low whistle and said "Just as skilled as ever, I see."

"You're not really surprised, are you?"

Akito and I had spent a lot of time horseback riding together when we were younger. Sometimes Colby would come along, too, but I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge the fact that I'd enjoyed the times when it was just the two of us.

"No, ma'am." Akito shook his head and gave the kind of laugh I didn't like to hear from him. It was the fake kind. "I guess I've just gotten so used to being around the kind of woman who doesn't have the first clue about this kind of thing."

As I put my arms around Akito so I wouldn't ultimately end up on the ground, I looked over my shoulder toward the barn where I'd last seen Colby. She was still in there, I was sure of it, and any lightheartedness Akito had inspired in me was suddenly gone. I hadn't stopped being mad, but I found myself being mad all over again anyway and I was hyper-focused on getting to Buena Vista.

Akito didn't push Mina at the kind of pace I would have preferred, but that was probably a good thing considering I really wasn't thinking straight at the moment and no horse should have to endure my impatience. He'd been right, of course, when he told me I might would accidentally run an innocent horse into a tree. Somewhere in the back of my mind I registered the cold. Akito was blocking the worst of the wind, but some of it was still hitting me and chilling me to the bone. Shockingly, I really didn't care at the moment.

When we finally made our way to the outskirts of Buena Vista, I realized I hadn't been there in a long time. It had been around six years. I just hadn't found the time to go there since returning from the city for some reason. It was unfortunate that I couldn't be visiting Buena Vista now under better circumstances.

We came to a stop in the town square. Not too far off, I could see the huge lake that Buena Vista had been built by. The lake was so huge that you couldn't see the other shore so it gave the town a real seaside feel in the warmer months. It had started snowing quite a bit halfway through our journey there and it was starting to concern me a little.

"What now?" Akito asked as he hopped off Mina. He looked up at me and reached out. We both knew that I didn't need his help to get down, but it was another one of his gentlemanly gestures that I wasn't going to deny him.

Once I was off Mina's back I turned to him and said "Now we find Ignacio."

"Violet," he began.

"I'm not going to do anything I'll regret," I reaffirmed as I took the arm I saw him offering. It occurred to me somewhere in my mind that he never let Courtney glomp onto that particular arm. It was always the other arm.

"I was going to ask where you thought he'd be."

"Oh." I paused as I considered. "He's probably holed up in his house eating that cake," I seethed.

"What?"

"He's probably at his house. I've never been there, naturally, but Colby told me his address a while back." We walked in silence while I located the house I was sure was his. Akito kept shooting me concerned glances and I made it a point not to look at him because I had to stay focused. When we finally reached Ignacio's house I let go of Akito's arm and said "Maybe you should wait over there across the street."

"No."

"This is between me and him, Ki."

"I'm involved now, Vi. I'm here and I'm not going to let you face that scum alone." I shot him a look and he said "What? I went to school with him, too, and I've never liked the guy either."

I'd known before I even opened my mouth that it would be no use saying anything. Akito wasn't going anywhere. So I walked up to the door with him by my side and knocked. There was no answer so I knocked again. There was still no answer so I knocked harder. Finally, I heard footsteps and then the door opened.

Standing there in the doorway was Ignacio. That smarmy, slick, slippery, slithery, suspicious Ignacio who I hadn't liked from the first moment I laid eyes on him. If that bad vibe he'd always thrown off wasn't enough, then perhaps the fact that he'd constantly checked other women out while in Colby's presence, including me, was. I'd always thought that Colby deserved somebody better and I had always known that he was going to hurt her. I thought about all that Colby had told me, the absolute worst of it being what he'd said to her before kicking her out of his house and then I was distracted by something. There at the corner of his mouth was something brown. It was something chocolate. It was chocolate frosting.

' _I. . .I can't believe this. He actually had the nerve to sit back and eat Colby's cake_!' I thought incredulously, fuming on the inside.

"Violet," he said with that nasty little smile of his that I'd always detested. "Akito."

I noticed he looked more warily over at Akito. After all, Akito was a tall, big, strong, capable man who easily could have given him a beat down if he wanted to. He even had his arms crossed over his chest and was giving Ignacio the kind of look that he _should_ be wary of. Akito wasn't the one he should be worrying about, though, and he was about to find that out.

" _Iggy_ ," I said as I took a step forward. That was all I said to him. That was quite literally all I had to say to him. Sure, there were a million things I could have said. I could have told him about how much I had always disliked him. I could have raked him over the coals for what Colby had been through. I could have yelled at him about the seven years of her life he had wasted. At the moment, though, talk was cheap and words were hollow. I felt that in this case, actions would definitely speak louder than words. So I pulled my leg back, brought it forward, and kicked him. . .where it _hurt_. By the way, I didn't regret it.


	30. Fifteen Words

"I can't believe you did that," Akito said as I tugged on the hood of my coat to block the snow that was drifting down a lot more heavily than it had been before. The wind was also blowing pretty strongly and that was alarming.

After giving Ignacio that well-deserved kicking, I'd watched him hunch over and slump to the ground. There was a stream of words coming out of the man's mouth that Akito probably didn't think was acceptable for a lady's ears and there were pained tears streaming down Ignacio's face. Akito had taken my arm and coaxed me away, probably worried I'd do something more. That was it, though. That was my grand plan. There was nothing else for me to do to Ignacio other than that, but I kept looking over my shoulder thinking about how I should have worn a pointier pair of boots that day for maximum damage.

As I looked at Akito I saw that he had his eyes trained on me. He wasn't even really watching where he was walking. Luckily, the street was deserted so there was nobody to walk into. "I don't regret it, either," I told him firmly.

He started shaking his head and said "I'm not sure if I should be impressed, horrified, or both. Wow, Vi, just. . .wow. Please remind me not to get on your bad side. "

I held onto his arm and tried to soak up his body heat because now that I wasn't focused on Ignacio anymore, I was aware of my surroundings again. It was cold. I did not like being cold. "You could _never_ get on my bad side," I told him honestly. As soon as those words left my mouth, I realized just how true they were. "And how about you be a mixture of both? You can be impressed, but you're a guy so I know you felt a certain amount of mental pain at witnessing that so you can be horrified, too."

After a minute of silence, Akito spoke up. "I knew you were going to do something, I just didn't know what." Of course he'd been suspicious enough to be on to me at least a little. "You had that gleam in your eye. It kind of reminded me of that day you pushed me down."

"Violent Violet?" I truly wasn't a violent person. The thought of physically hurting somebody wasn't something that typically crossed my mind. Whenever somebody hits a certain breaking point or they're provoked in the right way, though, even the most level-headed person has a chance of breaking. Seeing Colby's pain had done that for me.

"Violent Violet 2.0," he amended. "The thing is, though, I understand why you did what you did and I even respect you for it. That guy has always had it coming to him. If he'd stood up and tried to retaliate, though, I would have pummeled him for you."

"I'm touched that you would pummel somebody for me, Ki." Really, I was. Sure, I didn't want Akito to go around pummeling anybody, even Ignacio, but the fact that he'd do that for me sent warm fuzzies all throughout my system and combated the cold.

"Anytime," he told me and I was sure that he meant it.

Mina was right where we'd left her and she looked unhappy about the snow falling around her. Akito gave her an affectionate pat and I marveled at that warm gentleness of his that I'd seen time and time again all throughout our lives. I came up next to him and gave Mina some deserved attention, too, before I said "Maybe we should go. This weather looks like it could take a nasty turn."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a thickly accented voice said from behind us. We turned around and there was a man there. He kind of looked like a taller version of Diego, Enrique, and Raul. He didn't have their pointy hats, but he was dressed just as brightly in a vibrant green coat that was decorated with geometric shapes and maracas. He had the kind of mustache that I was pretty sure would earn the respect and perhaps even envy of all three triplets.

"Why is that?" Akito asked. I noticed he stood ever so slightly in front of me just in case this stranger posed any kind of danger.

The guy gave us this smile that radiated good-nature, though, and I saw Akito's shoulders relax a little. "A storm is rolling in, my boy. A weather report just came in and a blizzard is about to hit."

That would certainly explain how ominous the sky had looked to me before we left Bluebell and it would explain why the weather was looking so threatening to me at the moment. I was thanking my lucky stars that school had let out early today for Oliver so he was definitely back home safe and sound. "We don't have time to make it back to Bluebell?" I asked the man as I moved to stand next to Akito.

He shook his head firmly and gave me an apologetic look. "No. And I would hate to see a pretty lady such as yourself get caught up in this," he told me as he motioned at the snow falling around us.

I didn't miss the fact that he'd just called me pretty and I did blush a little at the compliment from this complete stranger. Akito cleared his throat pointedly and said "Thanks for the head's up. Do you know if there's anybody we can ask to give our horse shelter until tomorrow? Does Esperanza still run that farm just up the road from here?"

"You know my wife?" he asked Akito cheerfully.

"You're married to Esperanza?" Akito asked with just as much cheer. "I can't believe we haven't met each other before now."

For some reason, the two of them started shaking hands as if they were forming the bonds of brotherhood. I actually couldn't believe we hadn't met him before, either. Esperanza was a lady we'd actually known forever since we'd always gone to school in Buena Vista. She was also a friend of my mom's.

"I moved here only two years ago and we were married. It's a full house now. Esperanza's parents have moved in and my three children. We're all happy, though. I'm sure she'll be pleased to take in your horse until tomorrow."

"Thank you so much, Mr. . ." I started.

"You can call me Paco," he told me and I realized that I really liked this guy for some reason. He was just that kind of guy who exuded a positive energy.

"I'm Violet and that is Akito," I said, performing the other half of the introductions. Then I nodded toward the third member of our current crew and said "And her name is Mina."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. If you want, I can take Mina over to the farm and get her settled. Of course, I would offer the two of you a room, but. . ."

"You have a full house," I finished for him.

"Taking Mina in is more than enough, really. Thank you for helping out, Paco," Akito said, shaking the man's hand again. "And please pass our thanks along to Esperanza."

"I will. I'm also sure she will be happy to see you two when you come to retrieve Mina. You two should head over to the inn and get settled in before the storm fully hits, though."

"Will do," Akito said before he went over to Mina and ran a loving hand over her. "Be a good girl. We'll come for you tomorrow," Akito said to her before nodding at Paco.

With a wave, the man headed toward the farm and took Mina with him. I saw my breath coming out in white puffs around me and thought about how winter really was my least favorite of all the seasons. My feet were two blocks of ice.

"I guess we should follow his advice and get ourselves to the inn, then," I suggested, really not wanting to complain about just how cold I was, but really wanting to get out of the weather.

Akito looked down at me and said "I'm an idiot, aren't I? You must be freezing out here and you can't stand cold weather to begin with." He started to take off his coat.

"Akito, what are you doing?" I asked as he draped it over my shoulders. "Take this back. It's freezing out here and I don't want you to catch a cold."

"I'll be fine," he said as he refused to take back the coat I was holding out to him. "You're more susceptible to the cold than I am and I can't take the thought of you shivering the whole walk to the inn."

It was then that I realized that I actually was shivering. "Ki," I started.

"Please take the coat, Vi. Okay?" He studied me for a moment before he said "The longer we stand here talking about it, the longer I'm going to have to stand here without a coat and then where will that leave me?"

I groaned. He had a point. This was another one of Akito's chivalrous, gentlemanly gestures and he wasn't going to back down from it. He wasn't going to put that coat back on and if I kept arguing with him about it then he was just going to continue standing there in the cold with nothing to protect him from the cold except for the sweater he was wearing. Well, that and the scarf and gloves he had on. It wasn't enough, though, not without the coat. "Okay," I relented as I let him drape the coat over my shoulders again.

"Ready?" he asked as he held his arm out to me again.

"Yep," I said as I accepted his arm and we hurried off toward the inn.

As we walked, I was acutely aware of the warmth of his coat and the scent of him that clung to the fabric. When we arrived at the inn, he held the door open for me and ushered me inside first before he quickly joined me. I looked around the place and realized that it really hadn't changed much since the last time I'd been there. I'd never had a reason to go upstairs and sleep in the rooms, but there was also a small restaurant on the first floor of the inn that I sometimes ate at as a teenager.

"It's like we climbed into a time machine or something, huh?" Akito asked, apparently having read my thoughts.

"You've got that right," I told him, still standing there just taking it all in.

"Are you hungry?" Akito asked me as he shook some snow from his hair.

As if in response to his question, my stomach started to growl. Akito laughed and I tried not to feel embarrassed enough to blush. "It seems I am."

"How about you go grab us a table and I'll see about getting us somewhere to sleep."

That sounded reasonable. Divide and conquer. "Sounds good. I'm on it."

With that said, I let him head over to the counter where the innkeeper, a man who I remembered as being called Carlito, was and I went over to the cluster of tables to find somewhere to sit. I didn't want to sit at the table we all used to frequent back in the day because it was by the window and I didn't want to feel the cold from outside radiating from the glass so I chose a table in the corner of the room. I took a moment to glance around and realized it really was like we'd gone back in time. That same painting of a donkey with a hat hung on the wall. A colorful mural that, coincidentally, I'd helped to paint was on another wall. Streamers in an assortment of colors were still hanging from the ceiling and I still felt like I was waiting for a fiesta to suddenly happen. I took off Akito's coat and draped it across the back of one of the chairs and put mine across the back of the opposite chair. Before I could even take my seat, though, Akito came out of nowhere and pulled the chair out for me.

"Thanks," I said as I sat down and let him push the chair in for me.

"You're welcome," he told me as he sat down in what he correctly assumed was his seat.

"That was fast," I noted as I looked at him from across the table. "Carlito didn't waste any time with the room, huh?"

"He didn't. He got it all taken care of way faster than I expected."

The restaurant wasn't like one of the places I would eat at once in a while in the city where they'd come give you a basket of chips and some salsa while you were trying to figure out your order. Buena Vista was a big enough place, though, that they had actual menus on the table for you to look at and a waitress, unlike Bluebell or Konohana.

By the time the waitress came around and asked if we were ready to order, I was pretty certain about what I wanted. "I think I'll have a chicken quesadilla and a hot chocolate," I told her. The hot chocolate in Buena Vista was made with dark chocolate, so it was more bitter than the ones from Bluebell. There was also a hint of some kind of pepper in them, too, that made them slightly spicy. I liked the combination, though. "Oh, and a little cup of guacamole, too."

The waitress, a woman who I'd never seen in Buena Vista before, turned and looked at Akito. "And you, sir? What can I bring you?"

I could see the way she was looking at Akito. There was a certain amount of appreciation and interest there. For some reason, I found myself feeling a little. . .I don't know. Jealous, perhaps? Maybe even a little possessive. That was completely ridiculous because I wasn't his girlfriend. Courtney was his girlfriend. I'd never spoken up, never tried to get my feelings out there when they could have made a difference. I had no claim to him and I had no right to feel that way. Yet there I was narrowing my eyes at the waitress ever so slightly.

"I think I'll have the chicken tortilla soup," he started as he perused the menu.

"Wait, what was that?" I asked as I sat my menu down and fixed my amethyst eyes on him.

"What? Chicken tortilla soup?" he repeated as he continued to look at the menu.

"Yeah, that."

"It's cold, Vi. Soup is a good thing to have when you're cold," he said reasonably.

With a disbelieving shake of my head I said "Akito, you've _never_ ordered anything here other than those beef empanadas you love so much." That was true. He'd always loved Carlito's empanadas. Occasionally he'd get an order of nachos to go with his empanadas, but if nothing else he always ordered the empanadas.

Akito looked at me and that frown I'd been seeing much too often lately returned. "They fry the empanadas here, Violet."

I raised a very questioning eyebrow as I asked "And? You love fried food, Akito."

"I do," he said hesitantly as he suddenly focused his attention on the bottle of hot sauce sitting next to a pepper shaker. "Courtney told me I shouldn't eat fried food anymore, though."

". . .She what?" I asked.

"She says it's unhealthy and all that."

True enough. Fried food wasn't the healthiest thing out there, but. . . "Like. . .she said you shouldn't eat it ever? At all?"

"Yeah." He looked distinctly unhappy about that as he stared at that hot sauce. He wanted those empanadas and I could tell.

"Not even _hash browns_?" I asked him suddenly. Hash browns were his absolute favorite food, hands down, and Georgia always fried them rather than baking them. Akito loved hash browns."

"Not even hash browns." Saying that made him look even more distinctly unhappy than before. Courtney was coming between Akito and hash browns? A part of me wondered if she was even aware that hash browns were his favorite. Probably not since she hadn't even known that red was his favorite color before I told her.

"Ki, having something fried every once in a while won't hurt you. You're a perfectly healthy guy. You take good care of yourself and you typically eat well." I paused a few seconds before I continued. I wasn't trying to pressure him into getting those empanadas. If he wanted to listen to Courtney and shirk fried foods and stay away from hash browns then that was his prerogative, but I had to make sure that it was what he wanted rather than him just bending to Courtney's will. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" he asked.

"Yes," I told him as I tapped on the top of his menu. "If you really don't want anything fried then fine, go ahead and have your soup. If what you really want are those empanadas, though, then. . .Akito, if you know what you want then go for it." I trailed off and stared at him.

He finally dragged his eyes away from that bottle of hot sauce and trained his gaze on me. After a moment he said "I do know what I want. I know what I've wanted all along." He stared at me for a few more moments with an intense look and my heart was going crazy with it's boom-clapping for some reason. Akito finally broke eye contact and glanced up at the waitress. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long, ma'am. That was really rude of me."

"N-No problem," she said as she felt the full effect of those golden orbs. At that second I stopped feeling that irrational jealousy and instead I felt a certain camaraderie. I knew what it was like being on the receiving end of that gaze and it still had the power to make me flustered, too. "What can I get you?"

"I'll take," he said before taking a second to think. "an order of beef empanadas and I'll have one of those hot chocolates as well."

"O-Okay. I'll get right on those orders," she assured him before she went to do just that.

"So," I said as I leaned back a little in my chair. "Beef empanadas? You know those are fried here, right?"

Akito smiled knowingly at me before he said "Courtney did enough of dictating what I eat before we broke up and I left the city."

"Did she?" This was news to me.

"Yeah, she. . ." he sighed and shrugged. "She won't be particularly happy about this, but you're right. I'm a healthy guy and I don't have a bad diet. Something fried every now and then should be fine."

The waitress returned then with our hot chocolates. "Your food will be out soon," she assured us as she sat our hot chocolates down in front of us. "If there's anything else you two need then just let me know."

When she left again, I sat there and really looked at Akito. There was something off about him. Something had changed in him between summer and winter. I'd been seeing him frown more these days than I'd seen him frown our entire lives. It was getting harder and harder to try and overlook. "I personally think that as long as you throw in some of the really healthy stuff to appease her then she shouldn't have too much of a problem with you having something fried here and there. I mean, relationships are about compromise. They're not about one person telling the other you have to do this or that or else."

He laughed one of those fake laughs without humor again and the sound of it struck a chord with me. For some reason, it resonated with me on a level similar to the heartbreak I'd seen from Colby earlier had. "Unfortunately, Vi, Courtney isn't exactly big on compromise."

I was sensing that there was more to the story than that. Sometimes Akito really wanted to talk about something and was just waiting for a little prodding. Other times I was aware that he needed me to back off. At that moment, though, it was the former rather than the latter. There was something bothering Akito that he needed to talk about and whatever it was I wanted to hear it. After all, how many times over the years had Akito been there to listen to what I had to say and offer his advice or encouragement whenever I needed it? Whenever I felt he needed me in the same kind of way I'd needed him, I considered it an honor to be able to reciprocate and be there for him. "Ki, is there. . .I don't know. I'm not trying to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, I promise, but is there something going on with you and Courtney that's bothering you?"

Akito looked genuinely upset about something. It was written there on his face and whatever it was, I wanted to make it go away. I wasn't sure if he'd talked about whatever was eating away at him with Jackson or Makoto or how much of it he had told them if he had. All I knew was that if he wanted to talk about it with me then I was there to listen. I waited for his response and then he said fifteen words that somehow had the power to hit me right in the gut. "Courtney's been trying to talk me into packing up and going back to the city."


	31. The Dinnertime Discussion

**Author's Note:** It's always nice to write a chapter featuring Vikito. I very much enjoyed writing this one, though!

* * *

"Courtney's been trying to talk me into packing up and going back to the city."

The second those words left his mouth, it was like somebody had stolen all of the air from my lungs like a thief in the night. I couldn't breathe for a moment. "S-She has?" I blew on my hot chocolate a bit before I took a drink in an effort to calm myself. I could hear the wind howling outside, but that was quiet in comparison to the loud thoughts swarming through my mind.

' _I found this really wonderful fish once upon a time_.' Courtney's words from that day Marissa had showed up were suddenly haunting me. ' _It had these beautiful_ red _scales_.'

"Yeah. We've been arguing about it a lot and the arguing just gets worse." With a sigh, he admitted "That's part of what I was upset about that day we were talking right before we heard Cheryl screaming for help."

I knew exactly what conversation he was talking about. I recalled how upset he'd been because Courtney had claimed he was spending too much time taking care of the animals and not enough time with her. At the time he had been uncharacteristically cranky and I'd had a feeling that there was more to the situation that he wasn't telling me. This was that something more. "You two have been arguing about it for that long?"

"Among other things," he said as he looked at me meaningfully. I had a feeling there was something he was trying to tell me, but I had no idea what it was.

"Didn't we have a talk before about whether or not you'd go back to the city, Ki?" I remembered our conversation we'd had all the way back in summer over bowls of ice cream.

"We did," he confirmed before he picked up his cup and tried his own hot chocolate. "At the time I was on the fence about it, not sure of what I wanted to do. Now, though, I. . .It just feels so good being back here, you know? I just feel more connected to the guy I was right before I went to the city and I like that guy. I like him a lot. I like his life."

The waitress showed back up then and sat our food down in front of us. "Here you go," she said as she sat the cup of guacamole down next to my plate. Enjoy."

"Thanks."

"Thank you," Akito said as he looked at her. I saw her cheeks pink a little before she walked away.

I felt that we were in the middle of a conversation that was too serious for me to eat at the moment so I pushed my plate aside for the time being. "Akito, I like that guy, too. I think he's wonderful. You know, you're still that same guy, though. No matter what, you're always you."

"I don't know, Vi. I wasn't going to stay at that job long, working for Courtney's father. I had planned on getting a little experience under my belt and then coming home to put it to use. But I met Courtney that first day and we got together."

' _I baited my hook and I caught this fish_. _I put it in a beautiful little aquarium and I took such good care of it_. _It had everything a fish could want_.'

"It was good for a while, but then it wasn't and we broke up. We just wanted different things and that caused trouble between us. I came home to support my mom and I didn't expect for Courtney to show up. I mean, let's face it, this isn't the kind of life she's accustomed to. She did, though. And I just thought that the fact that she was willing to follow me all the way back to the two towns and try to make it work had to count for something."

' _When I finally found my fish again, it had jumped into a sad little bowl_. _I_ did _find it again, though_.'

"It was just. . .more of the same, though. It was more of the same things that pushed us apart in the city and. . ." He looked at me kind of meaningfully again. "There was other stuff, new problems that became even bigger issues than the old problems. Then she started saying that we should go back to the city, that she could talk to her father and he would welcome me back at the company with open arms."

The last of Courtney's words about that fish with the beautiful red scales echoed in my head.

' _I'm going to put it back in my aquarium soon_.'

This was what she had been talking about. That whole time she was comparing one of the most amazing guys I knew to a fish of all things, she'd been alluding to the fact that she was doing her best to try to pressure him into going back to the city with her.

"That guy I was in the city? He had a good life, you know? He had a good job, friends, the works. When I walked into my mom's shop that day, though, and talked to you? I just felt like a completely different guy than the one I was when I was in the city and I liked this guy better. Yeah, I know that both are me, but I felt different. I felt more like myself somehow. These days, though, I don't feel like myself anymore. I don't feel like that guy from the city, exactly, either. I actually don't know who I am at the moment."

It finally made sense to me, why Akito had been looking so unhappy and seeming off somehow lately. That inner light that had always drawn me to him, that light that he exuded from within. . .It was diminishing. Courtney had done that to him. Courtney was still doing it to him. She was giving the man an identity crisis. He literally wasn't sure of who he was anymore! She'd been spending a lot of time trying to change him into whoever it was she wanted him to be instead of cherishing and appreciating the wonderful man I knew him to be. The facial hair, the laundry detergent, even the whole food thing. That was Courtney changing things about him, trying to change little things so that she could gather the power to change even bigger things.

I'd spent so much time trying to do better for Akito, be better for Akito's sake and endure Courtney. I'd been putting up with her mean looks and her covertly, cleverly demeaning words. I'd stood by and watched them together even though it hurt me to my core to do so. And for what? So she could take her golden little spoiled spoon and scoop out the essence of the man I'd always loved? Why hadn't I seen it sooner? Why hadn't I figured it out? I couldn't have known because Akito hadn't talked to me about it before, but still, I felt as if I'd somehow failed him.

I wasn't even really aware of what I was doing, but I reached across the table and put my hand on his cheek. It was warm and smooth and some of the upset I'd seen on his face seemed to fade away. It was a small consolation, but for me it was something. I stared into his eyes and said "I know exactly who you are. You're Akito. You're the guy who I pushed down into the snow that day and then didn't raise a hand to me, right? You're the guy who laid his jacket down in a puddle one time in front of the school so those shoes my mom had gotten me wouldn't get messed up. You're the guy who offers his arm to ladies, who kisses their hands and holds open the door for them. You're the guy who laid down in the water that one day because I'd fallen while practicing my hand fishing and I wouldn't let you help me up."

He laughed at that last thing. It was a small laugh, but it was very much genuine and filled with a certain warmth.

"You're the guy who broke my fall that day at Town Hall and carried me to the clinic when I didn't want to admit that I was good and sick. You're the guy who helped me bring Cheryl's baby into the world and convinced me that it was going to be okay when I thought I couldn't do it. Ki, you're a real gentleman who goes out of his way to help people whenever it's needed. You're also a rock, you know? You're steady and dependable and you always seem to know what to say to make people sure of themselves. You're the guy who I've always. . ." I trailed off and caught myself before I said too much. I caught myself before I said something foolish like 'I love you.' "I've always admired."

Akito was quiet for a minute before he said "That's who I am? Because you make me sound like a pretty great guy."

"You are," I told him earnestly. "And if you ever start to forget who you are again then come find me because I won't hesitate to remind you."

"What do you think I should do, Violet? About Courtney and her wanting me to go back to the city?"

I was scared. I was scared that Akito would ultimately decide to pack up and go back to the city with Courtney. I was afraid that she was going to take that beautiful fish with those beautiful red scales and trap him in her aquarium again while I stayed behind in the fish bowl. The air left my lungs again. I certainly couldn't tell him not to go back, though. That wasn't my place and if I were to tell him then that would just be me giving into my selfish need to keep him near. That wouldn't be fair to him. It was a decision that he had to make on his own.

"I can't say, Akito. That's something that you have to decide for yourself. You have to think about what's right for you. Not just moving back to the city, but Courtney, too. Is going back to the city right for you? Is Courtney right for you? I know you, though. You're Akito. You're the guy who is going to figure it out." I decided to quote what he'd told me right before we delivered Cheryl's baby. "You're a strong, smart, determined, resilient person. Okay? It's going to be okay."

He smiled at me and I saw all of that upset finally, completely fade away from his face. I could feel my heart beating against my rib cage, trying to boom and clap it's way out and I was kind of worried it was going to flop out onto the table in an attempt to reach Akito. At that moment I realized something. At some point Akito had placed his hand over the one I had pressed to his cheek and both of us were leaning forward against the table. My fingers were in his ponytail again and I had no idea how long we'd been sitting that way. I leaned back in my seat on my side of the table and reluctantly took both of my hands back with me on that journey. I cleared my throat once, twice, three times before I said "We'd better eat before it gets ice cold if it isn't already."

Akito had done a lot of soul bearing and I felt that perhaps it was time to shift gears before I did something silly like reach back over and twirl a lock of his auburn hair around my finger. I touched my quesadilla and was thankful that it was made hot and fresh because it was still warm enough to be appetizing. I was considering asking the waitress if she could heat my hot chocolate back up for me, though. That train of thought was interrupted, though when Akito said "Thanks, Violet."

I didn't ask what for because that would have been a stupid question. I knew what he was thanking me for. He was thanking me for doing what he would have done if the shoe had been on the other foot. "That's what friends are for, Ki." Because even though the feelings I had for him were far from that of a mere friend, I was still his friend. I would always be his friend through anything and everything for as long as he needed or wanted me to be.

"Friends, huh?" he said in a way that struck me as nothing short of melancholy. "Yeah, we're friends." He looked at me in that way he had that always gave me the impression that he was seeing into me, like there was nothing I could hide from him even though there was so much that I was. "Violet, there's just something I really need to know. I really want your honest answer."

I hesitated before I said "Okay. What is it? I'll give you an honest answer."

He picked up an empanada and then threw six words out there. "What do you think about Courtney?"

It was a good thing that I hadn't bitten into my quesadilla yet because I'm pretty sure I would have choked on my food and then he would have been having to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on me. Was Akito seriously asking me for my opinion about Courtney? Could I give him my opinion about Courtney? I'd spent a great deal of time holding my tongue on the subject of Courtney. He had asked for an honest answer, though, and while I was the queen of omissions and half-lies and whatnot, I felt like I couldn't give him anything less than what he'd asked for. I never would have said anything about her on my own, but because he was actually _asking_. . .

Perhaps I could say something. While I wanted nothing more than to get Courtney far, far away from him, it was more than my feelings for him that drove me. It was what I knew in my heart to be true: Courtney was all wrong for him. Completely wrong for him. Beyond wrong for him. I was his friend. Wasn't it my duty to him to let him know what I thought of her if he was actually asking me to tell him? At this point, I certainly couldn't not say anything since he had asked me a question and expected a response. And I wasn't going to lie to him. My answer was honest, but at the last second I decided to put it mildly. "She's never been one of my favorite people."

That was all I said. I didn't tell him about all the covert nastiness I'd received from her, sometimes right under his nose. I didn't write him a five page letter detailing all of the reasons that I deeply disliked Courtney and all the reasons why I thought she wasn't deserving of him. I didn't say those things to him. I'd said 'She's never been one of my favorite people.' For some reason, though, I felt like those eight words carried far more weight with him than any of the other things I didn't say could have. He didn't give me a response to those words. The two of us sat there in a companionable silence and ate our dinner, each of us lost in our own individual thoughts. The waitress had returned to check on us at some point and we'd asked her to reheat our hot chocolates. Then, when we were done, we left her a rather large tip for all the trouble we had caused her.

I stood just far enough away from one of the windows to watch the sky turning dark as the snow came rushing down only to be blown all over the place by powerful winds. On the chance that the blizzard managed to knock the power out, I hoped that Carlito had a generator. I would be fine having to go the night with candles to light my way, but I would not be fine with freezing half to death with no heat.

"Ready to go up and relax?" Akito asked from beside me. He'd been looking out the window, too, but I had the feeling that he hadn't been seeing the weather like I had. He'd been seeing something else in his mind's eye and it probably had something to do with his drama with Courtney.

"Sure."

We ascended the stairs to the second floor. It was just as colorfully decorated as the first floor and there were potted plants every few feet. I stood next to a cactus and slowly lowered my finger toward it before Akito said "Vi?"

I yanked my finger back and saw him standing in front of a door. With one last look down at the cactus, I headed over to where Akito was. "Where's your room?" I asked him then, wanting to know which door he'd be behind if I needed him.

"Right here," he said, gesturing at the door we were standing in front of.

"Oh," I said with a slow nod of my head. "Well where's mine then?"

"Right here," he said again, gesturing at the door once more.

"Oh."

My mind slowed to a crawl then. There was one door. One room. Akito and I would be sharing the same room? All of a sudden, my mind sped up. It was going a hundred miles per hour. I had read more than enough young adult romance novels in my day to think I knew where this was heading. It was such a. . .a cliché situation! Since I was admittedly a fan of corny and cliché things, my mind was already forming a possible scenario that could come straight out of a romcom. If this were a book or movie and I were the main character, then perhaps Akito would be the love interest. And then here we were in the position of sharing the same room.

We'd go in there and Akito, ever the gentleman, would volunteer to sleep on the floor. Me, not wanting to see him have to sleep down there, would offer for us to share the bed. With a little persuasion, I'd get him to agree. We'd start off on opposite sides of the bed, probably falling asleep with our backs facing each other and a pillow between us. Throughout the course of the night, though, we'd probably each roll over in our sleep before somehow meeting in the middle of the bed. In the morning I would probably wake up with my head on his chest, pressed closely against him with his arm around my waist. I'd breathe in that fresh, laundry detergent scent of his and. .

"Violet?"

I suddenly became aware of Akito waving his hand in front of my face. "W-What? Huh? Did you say. . .uh, did you say something, Ki?"

The look on his face was nothing short of perplexed as he said "I asked if you were going to stand there all night or if you wanted to go in."

"Oh," I said, giving a nervous little laugh. "Yeah. I'm ready. Sorry, I kind of spaced out for a minute there."

He gave me an indulgent smile as if he were asking the silent question of 'What am I going to do with you?' before he opened the door and strolled inside. I followed him in and watched as he turned on one of the lamps. "Here we go."

I glanced around the room. There were two lamps. A door to my left appeared to be a closet. Opposite of it was another door that looked like it probably led to a bathroom. There was a shelf with a radio on it. There wasn't a television, though. Even if Buena Vista was larger than the two towns, it was still just as disconnected from modern technology as they were. A table with two chairs was located about five feet away from the window and right in front of me there was. . .

"Oh," I said for the fourth time within a five minute time frame. Right in front of me there were two beds. Not one, but two. At the moment I wasn't sure if I felt relieved or disappointed. I should probably be feeling more relieved than anything, right? I mean, it hadn't been long since my breakup with Jackson and Akito wasn't even broken up with Courtney so if anything, I should probably be feeling relieved as well as guilty for that silly little scenario my mind had cooked up on the other side of that door. "The room is very colorful," I mused as I looked around at the decorations. There was also a plant like the ones in the hallway, only there was no cactus in this room. "I like it."

We hung our jackets up in the closet and then I sat down on the bed to the right. Akito glanced over and saw that I was claiming that one as mine so he took the one on the left. He then went over to the radio and turned it on, flipping through the stations until he found the one that he wanted. There was a little bit of static, but a voice cut through the silence of the room. "Be sure to stay indoors and try to stay warm. The unexpected blizzard is still hitting the area and travel is currently impossible. The storm should taper off some time after midnight and the roads should be cleared by the mid-morning."

A few more things were said by the voice on the radio before the broadcast ended. "Well, at least we should be able to get out of here by mid-morning," Akito said as he turned the radio off.

Something suddenly occurred to me and I jumped up off the bed. "Everybody's got to be worried about us, Akito. I mean, I ran out on Colby in the barn and we rushed off here together and a blizzard hit and we haven't come back!" I let out a groan and sat back down. My family. His family. Colby. Even. . .Courtney. They all were probably wondering if we'd gotten caught in the storm or not.

We both contemplated that for a few minutes before he said "Some Winter Harmony, huh?"

So much had happened that day that I had managed to forget that it was still, in fact, Winter Harmony. I gave him a little laugh before I replied. "Wow. Uh-huh."

Akito sat down on his bed and leaned forward, draping his hands between his knees. Physically, he looked at ease. The look in his eyes suggested something else. I could see he was trying to take his mind off the worry we must have caused at home. "I hope that nobody eats my chocolate while I'm gone." I blinked once, twice, three times before I laughed at him and he started laughing, too, and we just sat there laughing together as we tended to do. Finally, when we calmed down some, Akito said "What? I'm serious. Alan likes chocolate and he won't hesitate to take it."

I groaned again then, fell back on the bed, and draped my arm across my eyes. "Ugh, Alan."

Akito jumped up and pried my arm away from my eyes. His bangs fell forward as he looked down at me. "What about Alan?"

"Nothing," I tried to say, although I knew that once I'd pushed this particular wheel there was no stopping it from rolling down the hill.

"It's not nothing. This is my brother we're talking about here, so what's up?"

I sat up because seeing him hover over me like that was giving me a serious case of deja vu. He sat back on his bed and looked at me expectantly until I finally cracked. "Alan's been hitting on me. Like. . .flirting. Making romantic advances, kind of."

". . .Excuse me, what?" I knew that tone and it wasn't a good one.

"Uh. . .Well he showed up at my house on Spring Harmony and I thought that he was there to see Ollie, but then he gave me a plate of chocolate cookies and pretty much told me he was interested in me _that_ way. Since then whenever I've seen him around it's been really awkward. He even asked me to dance at the Fall Music Festival. I just feel all kinds of weird around him. I mean, I know he's a good kid and all, but I did _not_ eat those cookies and I am _not_ interested in him that way. I mean, he's a teenager, Ki. I'm not a. . ."

"Vi, Violet. Calm down," Akito said as he sat on my bed and put his hands on my shoulders. "I'll have a talk with him and tell him, as his older brother, to back off."

"You will?" I asked, instantly feeling calm. I had no idea if it was from the soothing voice he'd switched over to or the fact that his hands were warm and present on my shoulders.

Akito shook his head and he looked a little mad. "You're right, Vi. My brother's a good kid. He just likes to think of himself as a little player. He's harmless, though, would never actually cross any lines. If he's really made you feel that uncomfortable, though. . .Really, he'll be getting off easier if I talk to him instead of telling mom about the situation."

"Don't go too hard on him, okay? He's one of Oliver's best friends, so. . ."

"I haven't been around enough for him since I left for college. I'm his older brother. I have to set an example and then teach him to follow it and that's going to start as soon as I get home." With a sigh, Akito rubbed a slightly frustrated hand down his face and asked "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

I shrugged and thought about that for a few seconds. "I thought about telling you. I guess I just thought he'd come to his senses on his own and stop because I certainly wasn't reciprocating." I didn't tell him that I'd also thought it would be awkward to tell the guy I was secretly in love with that his teenaged brother was coming onto me. I had been right, though. Telling Akito was definitely awkward, but at least this awkwardness kind of paled in comparison to everything else we'd been through that day.

After discussing Alan's shenanigans for a little bit longer, Akito went downstairs and came back up with a deck of cards he'd borrowed from Carlito. He turned the radio on to a music station and we listened to music while we sat at the table and played cards, laughing and talking about this and that the entire time. I could tell that there were times when he was thinking about his issues with Courtney and there were times when my mind would stray back to what Colby had been through with Ignacio, but somehow we were able to mostly keep these things at bay.

The lights did go out, but luckily Carlito did have a generator so he got that up and running in no time at all. The blizzard was still going on outside, but at least inside we were sheltered from the strong, cold winds and all that snow. Finally, when it had gotten late and we were both tired we put the cards aside and went to our respective beds. We took off our shoes and both of us laid down on our sides, facing each other. I stared at him for the longest time across that five foot gap and he stared at me, too. We just stared. I had no idea what he was seeing when he looked at me, no idea what he was thinking. Maybe he wasn't even seeing me at all. Perhaps his mind was somewhere else altogether. Suddenly, though, I realized something about him. There was something in his eyes. It was there, that light I'd always seen him exude from within. Courtney had been diminishing it, but it was bright again. It was bright. Whatever he had going on in his head behind his gaze, he seemed to have made peace with something in those quiet moments.

Finally, I saw Akito reach over toward his lamp. "Goodnight, Violet," he said before he turned it off.

"Goodnight, Akito," I replied. Then I reached over and turned my lamp off, too.


	32. Back to Reality

The next morning came soon, too soon. For some reason, it had always felt as if there was never enough time in the world when I was around Akito. I was a greedy, greedy person who always secretly wanted more even if I never consciously admitted that to myself. If time were infinite for me, I wondered if I would be satisfied even then. I woke up before him and I silently thanked the Harvest Goddess that I had.

Yesterday there had been a blizzard, but the sunlight streaming in through the window would suggest otherwise. Since Akito was sleeping on his side facing me, the sunlight was hitting his face, accentuating all of those familiar planes and features I adored. I idly wondered, as I gazed upon him, how it was that I could know his face even better than I knew my own. As well as I knew it, though, I suddenly found it to be a complete revelation to me. His eyes were so striking when they were open that seeing him asleep like that gave him such a. . .a boyish quality. It reminded me of how he'd looked when we were younger, before we went our separate ways out into the world in the first place.

His bangs were swooped to the side and his hair had come loose from whatever he'd used to pull it back. My fingers were dying to sink into that hair. My heart was doing that thing that only Akito had the power to make it do, that mysterious boom-clap that was starting to sound like the Akito theme song to me. What would it be like? What would it be like if every morning I had the chance to wake up and see such a sight? I was a greedy, greedy person because every morning for the rest of my days would probably never be enough.

He started to stir and for some reason, I shut my eyes and feigned being asleep. That was a silly thing to do. It wasn't like he was automatically going to jump to the very correct conclusion that, like a creeper, I'd been watching him sleep. Still, I pretended to be asleep. For a few minutes, there was silence and I started to wonder if he was still sleeping after all, but then I finally heard him sit up in his bed. Another minute or so passed before I heard "Violet?" I had to do a good job of pretending I was still asleep so I didn't respond. He tried again. "Hey, Vi? It's morning. Wake up."

Finally, I let myself start to stir. I gave a good stretch and even rubbed my eyes. "Ki? Where. . .? Oh, hey. The blizzard is over."

I glanced at him and he was sitting there on his bed, leaning forward with the strangest smile on his face. "Yeah. I guess we made it through the night." He nodded toward the clock and said "We should probably get ready to go soon, though. They said the roads would be cleared by mid morning."

A gasp escaped me as I looked at the clock. It was nine-thirty. That was considered sleeping late for me. I was usually up no later than six, provided that I wasn't sick. I didn't move for a minute. I wondered if I stayed there motionless long enough, would time slow to a crawl and I could savor these quiet moments for just a little while longer? Time wasn't slowing down, though, and we had people who were worrying about us. We had to go. Reluctantly, I threw my legs over the side of the bed and said "I call dibs on the bathroom."

"Ladies first," he told me, ever so graciously.

Luckily, there were complementary toothbrushes and toothpaste in the bathroom and I wouldn't have to embarrass myself all over the place with morning breath. When I was done with that, I decided to wash my face. After patting my face dry with a towel, I looked in the mirror and fussed with my hair some. Unfortunately, there weren't any hairbrushes so I ran my fingers through my hair until I felt I was actually presentable enough to walk out the bathroom. I came out and gave Akito his turn inside. I turned on the radio and listened to the weather broadcast while I was waiting for him. It was going to be a sunny day and the roads were reportedly clear.

"Roads are clear," I told Akito when he came out of the bathroom with his hair pulled back again, looking way better first thing in the morning than anybody in the world had the right to.

"Great. How about we get some breakfast before we head out?"

A little more time with Akito before heading back home? How could I say no to such a thing? "I'm in. You know I need coffee at the very least, anyway."

"Of course. Would I dare take you outside in all that cold if you didn't have some serious caffeine rushing through your veins beforehand?"

"You know me so well," I said with a laugh as I went to the closet and handed him his jacket before grabbing my own.

Breakfast was a tame affair in comparison to the dinner we had the previous night. We didn't talk about anything serious, yet everything we said felt as if it were deep and meaningful. Akito had ordered one cup of coffee and as always, he ordered it black. I admired the man for that even if I personally could not forgo creamer and at least a little sugar. When I had plenty of food and two cups of coffee in me, Akito said "Ready?"

No, no I wasn't. I certainly couldn't tell him that, though. "Yeah, let's get the show on the road."

We left Carlito's and started making our way toward Esperanza's farm. We passed one adobe building after another, went from one colorful decoration to the next and we even walked right by the school that both of us knew so well. I was even able to point out the exact spot where he'd laid that jacket down in a puddle for me. At one point I thought I might have seen Ignacio. If it had been him, though, he'd had the sense to turn in the opposite direction and run away. Then again, perhaps it was a donkey I'd been seeing the entire time. El burro.

We walked up the road that would take us to Esperanza's farm. The first thing we saw when we got close enough was Mina out in the pasture. She looked up and locked her eyes onto the horse whisperer and made a beeline straight for Akito. He met her at the fence and you'd think they'd been apart a whole year or something. Horses just really loved the guy. Well, all animals loved him, even Rufus.

"Hey there," he spoke to the horse in a soft tone. "Did you miss me? Are you ready to go home?" He stopped as if he were listening. "Alright, alright. We'll get on the road soon. Huh? Yes, we can bring Violet, too."

"That's a relief," I said as I stopped to give Mina some attention and then looked over toward the figure standing in front of the house. "Esperanza!" I called out with a wave.

We had a lovely chat with Esperanza, during which time she fawned over how much we'd grown since the last time she'd seen us and to let my mom know that a visit from her would be nice in the near future. We also got to talk to Paco and thank him again for his help as well. Soon enough, though, the two of us were seated once again on Mina's back and we were ready to go.

"Have a safe trip back," Esperanza said as I settled myself in behind Akito. "Be cautious on the road."

"We will," I assured her as I pulled my scarf more snugly around me to better combat the wind.

Paco approached us and shook Akito's hand. "Take care, the both of you."

"You, too," Akito replied before Paco stepped back and returned to his place beside his wife.

After I put my arms around him, Akito coaxed Mina into action and we took off down the road. On our way through the town square, I looked to the left over at that huge lake and I saw it sparkle in the sunlight. Now that I wasn't a soldier heading into battle, I could better appreciate my surroundings. It didn't take us long to get back onto the main road and when Akito picked up speed, I decided to lean forward and rest my cheek against his back. I felt his back straighten a little as I did so. Now that I wasn't on the warpath and single-minded anymore, I was suddenly aware of many things I'd neglected to take notice of during the trip to Buena Vista.

For example, my hands were resting against the flat expanse of Akito's stomach and my fingers grazed muscle. Being this close to him, my nose was on overload taking in that familiar, wonderful, clean scent that I was so very fond of. He was warm, too, keeping me somewhat comfortable despite the chilling cold. I suddenly tuned into the sound of his heart beating beneath my ear. It was faster than I was expecting, but it was nice and steady. Being that close to him, as always, was a bittersweet thing. There were so many things, so many factors, just. . .so much clutter. If only things could be simple. If only I could rewind back to right before the Hand Fishing Festival when the situation had been more simple.

I could have stayed on that horse with Akito for much, much longer, but soon enough we arrived back in Bluebell.

"You can drop me off here," I told Akito as we approached my driveway.

"I'd prefer to escort you all the way home," he informed me even though I'd known before making the suggestion that he was going to insist on taking me all the way. That was Akito being Akito.

I wondered. Did Courtney appreciate that quality he had about him? Or was it yet another one of those things about him she wanted to change? Was it one of the things she wanted to scoop out of him with her golden spoon before she put him back in her aquarium?

So we made our way up the driveway and the familiar sight of my family's farm greeted me like a caring, dear friend. I was honestly surprised that nobody was standing outside on the lookout for me to arrive.

When Mina finally came to a stop by the fence of the pasture, where our audience consisted of whichever animals felt like trekking out into the cold today, I reluctantly dismounted and looked up at Akito. There he was sitting atop his horse looking like a knight in shining armor again, only without the armor. And yet he'd allowed me to see beyond that armor and he'd shown me so much vulnerability. This man, this guy who had often acted as my rock throughout the years, allowed me to be _his_ rock. I only hoped I'd done half as good as a job as he'd done for me.

"So," he said as he met my gaze with his. "Home again safe and sound, huh?"

"Looks like it," I said. "I guess we'll have a lot of explaining to do."

Akito laughed then and said "Well, I'm not really sure how to explain myself in the first place considering I don't know all the details of what took us to Buena Vista."

"Just tell them the truth. I was heading to Buena Vista, you didn't want me to go alone, and we got stuck there because of the blizzard. And now here we are at the end."

"So a watered down version of the truth?" he asked then.

"Yeah. That seems to be my specialty these days, don't you know?" It really was my specialty. I seemed to be incapable of telling the whole truth most of the time and I was actually very troubled by this. How freeing would it be to just say what was honestly and truly in my heart and on my mind? Would the weight I felt on my chest disappear? Would I gain a new lightness that I'd been lacking for a long time?

"I guess I'll find out soon whether or not Alan ate my chocolate." When I made a little face at the mention of his brother's name, he added on "And I'm going to have a very long talk with him."

"Well, I hope he didn't eat your chocolate after all. Although, if he did, at least you know you have some more back in Konohana."

"Yeah," Akito said. "It won't be your chocolate, though."

"Is my chocolate that special?" I asked him jokingly. Inside I was quiet serious, though. I really wanted to hear what he had to say on the matter.

"Well, for starters, it's a giant cookie Vi." Before I could say what was on the forefront of my mind, he continued with "A giant cookie that's cut into slices like a pizza."

I smiled brightly because he had anticipated my words and had amended his sentence accordingly. "If he did eat it, though, I'll make you another one. You can come to Bluebell and eat it in secret so Courtney will never have to know. How does that sound?"

"You know, I'd really like to turn you down because I don't want to come across as being greedy, but. . . _It's a giant cookie._ I accept." The laughter that always came so easily to me when I was around him spilled forth from my lips. I felt so at ease and I wondered how it was that he could be simultaneously so serious about something yet also completely lighthearted. "I guess I"ll get going. My family's probably been worried."

"Yeah," I said. "My family is probably in there worrying, too. I'm actually surprised nobody was posted outside the door waiting for me to show up."

With a reluctant sigh, he said "See you, Vi."

"See you, Ki," I told him. I stood there and watched him and Mina make their exit until they were completely out of my range of vision.

I then closed the small distance between me and the house and opened up the door. My mom was on the couch with Oliver, nursing a cup of coffee that I was sure had gone cold. They immediately looked over at me. My dad was pacing back and forth and paused mid-stride.

"We've been so worried!" my mother gushed as she jumped up and crossed the room.

"What happened?" Oliver asked as he got up from the couch, too.

"Georgia told us you two went to Buena Vista. We were afraid the storm caught you," my dad said as he pulled me into a hug and rested his chin on top of my forehead. "You had us so worried, Vi. I know you're an adult, but you're still my little girl."

"I'm sorry I worried you all," I told them as I let my mom give me a hug. She looked like she'd been up all night worrying and I felt so guilty for wishing I could stay gone longer with Akito. They all looked like they'd been five minutes away from forming a search party and scouring the road for my frozen body. Even Oliver wanted a turn at hugging me and I took yet another opportunity to snatch his hat off his head and ruffle his hair before I put it back in its place.

I gave them an explanation that didn't involve me blabbing all of Colby's business. It also didn't involve the part where I kicked Ignacio where it counted. Nor did it include the part where Akito and I shared the same room because even though there were two beds _and_ I was twenty-four, my dad still wouldn't have liked it. Whatever situation I found myself in and whoever I was in said situation with while living in the city was one thing to him. Whatever situation I found myself in while living back home was a completely different thing, if the way he was watching me like a hawk was any indication. . .

Once my family was sufficiently calmed down and I had apologized profusely for making them worry, I had myself another cup of coffee. I was sitting there at the table wondering how much caffeine I could put in myself before I became jittery when my mom sat down and looked at me like she was trying really hard not to laugh. That was weird considering she'd just recently been so full of worry.

"Uh, mom, did I worry you so badly that I snapped something in your brain?" I questioned with concern as I sat my cup down.

"I'm not crazy, Violet. I'm nostalgic," she told me with a wistful lilt to her voice.

I recognized that voice. It was the 'I have a story to tell you' voice. All she needed was for me to ask the right question. "What has you feeling nostalgic?"

Her face lit up. Bingo. "I was just thinking about something that happened to me. Did I ever tell you about the time a blizzard came out of nowhere while I was up on the mountain walking to Konohana?"

Ooh, it was another story that I actually hadn't heard. "No. What happened?"

"I was heading over to Konohana for somebody's birthday. The tunnel wasn't completed then, so I had to take the long way. A blizzard came out of nowhere."

Sudden blizzard. That sounded familiar. "Did you get caught up in it?"

"Unlike you, yes. I was right smack dab in the middle of it. I even hurt myself and I couldn't get up off the ground. Snow was everywhere and I couldn't see anything."

With a raise of my eyebrow I asked "How am I even here now? It sounds like you easily could've become a human popsicle."

"Cam."

"Dad?" I should have known. Any story she felt worth telling usually had to include him somewhere in it.

"He knew I was on my way to Konohana so when he heard about the blizzard he came up after me. He followed the sound of my voice and found me. He swept me up in his arms and carried me down the mountain."

"Go dad. So strong and gallant," I said, seriously impressed by him.

"He somehow managed to find his way back to the farm despite all that snow. It was too bad for him to head back into town, though, so it was just the two of us stuck here together to wait out the storm. We had dinner and he opened up to me about some important things."

The two of them were stuck together throughout a blizzard? Dinner? Dad got all vulnerable? That was also sounding familiar to me.

"The thing is," she told me as she grabbed my cup and took a drink of my coffee. "Even though I knew Howard and Laney were surely worried about Cam back at the cafe, I was happy to have that time with him." She sat my cup back in front of me before getting up from the table and putting a hand on my shoulder. "I'm happy you're home safe and sound, baby."

My mom left the room then, proving to me yet again just how much of my mother's daughter I was and also cementing the suspicion in my mind that she was somehow all-knowing. I mean, really, mom?

When my cup was empty, I decided it was time to head into Bluebell for a talk I really needed to have with somebody who really needed to know something. I really didn't want to go back out in the cold, but some people were more important than an acute dislike of cold, snow, and most things associated with winter. I didn't make it out the door because as soon as I opened it up, Colby was right there on the other side. She stood there looking kind of surprised for a few seconds before she invited herself in and gave me a bone-crushing hug.

"I was so worried about you! We all were! I came over as soon as I saw Akito coming out of Georgia's shop," she told me as she pulled away and looked about two seconds away from punching me in the arm or something. She didn't, though, and I closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry, Col," I spoke while we both took off our jackets and whatnot and hung them up on the coat rack.

"What happened?" she asked as she rounded on me and grabbed my upper arms, somehow managing not to give into the need to shake me back and forth. "Start from the beginning when you left the barn, okay? Tell me _everything_ and don't you dare leave out even one single detail of what went down with you and. . ." she trailed off before she finished with " _that man_." She said that last part with disdainful venom in regards to Ignacio.

"Come on, Col. Let's go sit down and talk about it in private, okay?"

She gave me a nod and we went into my room. She handed me the rucksack I hadn't realized she'd brought with her and it was then that I remembered I'd left it in her barn.

Both of us sat down cross-legged on the bed facing each other. "I can't believe you ran off all the way to Buena Vista, Violet. Did you see him? Did you confront him? Oh, I can't believe this whole thing." She tugged at her hair like she was contemplating pulling some of it out. She finally rested her hands in her lap, though, and looked at me expectantly.

Apparently it was my turn to speak now so I told her what happened. I told her about how I ran into Akito and assured her that I didn't tell him about what Ignacio had done, but he still had insisted on going with me. I told her about how we went to Buena Vista and I found Ignacio's house. I even told her about how when he opened that door I saw that bit of chocolate frosting at the corner of his mouth. She started seething just as badly as I had because he'd had the nerve to actually eat that cake after everything that had gone down. Then, for my big finish, I told her about the kick to end all kicks and how I was sure that Ignacio would never be quite the same way again.

Colby was quiet for a few minutes as she took all of that in and processed it. Finally, she looked up at me with an expression that suggested disbelief. "Wow, Vi. I-I can't believe you did that for me, I. . ."

I took her hands in mine and said "You're my best friend, Colby. I've spent years scared that he was going to do something like that to you, something that was going to break your heart and leave you in pieces. _Nobody_ does that to my best friend at gets away with it and _especially_ not somebody like Ignacio. Somebody had to let him know that what he did wasn't okay. Somebody had to get some measure of justice on your behalf."

"You're my own personal soldier, huh?" she asked with a trembling smile.

"Oh yeah, Col. I went and I soldiered all over the place. I waged a war and we won."

She squeezed my hands with hers and told me "Thanks, Violet. I mean it. Thank you."

"You would have done the same thing for me." That was true. I knew with absolute certainty that Colby would have done something on my behalf, too, if I'd been hurt as badly as she had. If I'd fallen apart like that in front of her, she might have done worse to whatever guy had the misfortune of causing me that pain.

"You're right. I would have. I _would_." I saw something toughening back up in her right then.

It was there in the straightening of her spine and the resolve in her eyes. Just like that, my strong, resilient, tough as nails Colby was back and I had a feeling she wouldn't be letting anybody else bring her down again. Colby deserved a guy who was kind, thoughtful, patient, and who knew how to cherish. Someday she would find him. Until then, I had a feeling that she would be just fine.


	33. Violet and Courtney's Big Showdown

**Author's Note:** This is it. It is time for the confrontation that I've been waiting a long time to have the chance to write. I thought long and hard about how I should approach this. I wondered what would Violet do when the time came? I came to one conclusion and then scrapped it in favor of another. Then I scrapped another and another. This was what I ultimately decided on, though. Here it is.

* * *

A few days passed and suddenly it was Friday. It started off as a normal enough day. I was minding my own business and not causing anybody any kind of trouble. After helping with the work on the farm, I spent the remainder of my morning working on decorations for the wedding. I was doing good, you see? I was putting positive vibes out into the universe. So please explain to me why everything went downhill that afternoon. Okay, nevermind. The only explanation that is required is one from me because you're probably wondering what in the world I'm talking about.

Like I said, I'd spent my morning working on decorations for the wedding. There was a lot for me to do and I knew that even though it was still two weeks away, it would arrive before we all knew it. Time had a way of moving fast when you had a lot on your plate. I was on top of it, though. I really was. Some days I had people come and help me with whatever I was currently working on. With my guidance and careful instructions about how to use the hot-glue gun, everything was turning out how I wanted it to.

I put everything I'd been working on aside and decided it was time for a break. Besides, I had to get over to the church to have a talk with Nathan and Alisa. I'd gone over there the previous day in order to give Alisa a gift for her birthday and I had promised I'd return to discuss what I planned to do with the decorations on the day of the wedding. I had special plans for the aisle. As for the reception, there was a big room that had been added onto the church at some point for any important events that would take place at the church. It was one of the many expansions and renovations that Eileen had been in charge of throughout the years. There was a lot of work to be done in there before the wedding and Willow was getting into perfectionist mode due to her maid of honor responsibilities.

The church was just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the farm so I made it over there in no time at all. It had been snowing all morning so I wasn't pleased with the weather, but I was in good spirits as I walked up the steps and looked over to the left. There was a fountain with a few benches and in spring the flowers surrounding them were really beautiful. It was one of my favorite places in the two towns. I'd spent a lot of time sitting there for the first few days after I returned from the city.

When I entered the church I immediately launched into an in depth description of the things I had planned. I even made a suggestion to Nathan that there should be a festival added in honor of the Harvest Goddess' birthday. I told him that we could all make an offering of strawberries at her pond and then hold a celebratory dance in the new room to further honor her. That suggestion had Nathan more excited than a plate of french toast, which means he was definitely all for it.

My day was going pretty good, you see? I was feeling all kinds of creative and upbeat. I even started whistling a song that I liked listening to on the radio. I went into town to have a chat with my dad about the flowers because Keiko wanted me to give her a progress report on that and I was the ever-so-special liaison between her and our resident florist. On my way past Georgia's shop, I happened to run into Alan. There was a festival going on in Buena Vista so there was no school that day. What shocked me, though, was the fact that as soon as he saw me Alan stood up straighter. Like. . .ramrod straight. He inclined his head toward me politely and said in a soft voice "Good afternoon, ma'am."

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned slowly back toward him. I stood there kind of dumbly staring at him before I said "Excuse me? What was that?"

He blinked confusedly. "Good afternoon. . .ma'am?"

"Yeah, that." Apparently my ears were just fine and I'd heard him right the first time.

"I hope you're having a nice day," he continued on sweetly.

"Are you feeling okay, Alan?" I was about five seconds away from putting my hand on his forehead and feeling for a fever.

"I'm great. Thank you for asking." That was when realization dawned on me. There may not have been any school in Buena Vista that day, but Alan had clearly been to the school of Akito. That talk he'd promised to have with his brother had clearly taken place and whatever Akito had said seemed to be sticking. Alan seemed to be getting a little embarrassed the longer I stood there staring at him. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "I'd like to apologize to you."

"Wait what?" I asked then, wondering yet again if I was hearing this boy correctly.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted before. It was. . .unbecoming of me to treat you in such a way. You're just really pretty and it was inappropriate of me and. . .yeah, I'm sorry, Violet. Young ladies deserve more respect than what I've shown you."

It took me a minute, but I finally found my voice. "A-Apology accepted, Alan. I'm glad you're turning over a new leaf."

He let out a breath I hadn't realized he'd been holding in while he had waited for my answer. "Thanks, and yes, I am," he said with evident relief. Then he looked nervous again as he said "Would you do me a favor and not tell my mom how I was?"

Kana was the more easygoing parent of the two so I could see how he wasn't as worried on that front. Akito _had_ said that Alan would be getting off easier if that talking to didn't come from Georgia. Whatever Akito had said to him seemed to have set him straight so I certainly wasn't going to out him to Georgia if he planned on behaving himself from now on. "I won't tell."

He smiled at me and even though they didn't look alike, Alan reminded me of Akito so much in that moment that I had to fight the urge to rub my eyes. "Thanks. If you'll excuse me now, I have to go to Konohana. I want to ask Dirk for permission to take Serena out on a date. It was nice seeing you, Violet. Bye."

"B-Bye," I said, trying not to let my mouth drop wide open. Serena was going to love that. I wondered if her cards had informed her that something unexpected was going to happen to her today.

What in the world had Akito said to his brother to turn him into this? I wasn't complaining at all, but the kid had done an complete turn-around. He was so. . .so respectful and polite and like a young Akito in the making. Of course, being a gentleman was second nature to Akito. He wore it like an additional skin and he didn't have to work so hard at it. For Alan, it was like he was in the process of learning a second language. He had the vocab down and he could form sentences, yet he still needed practice before he'd become comfortable speaking it. Perhaps the ease Akito had would come in time. Until then, though, I found myself having high hopes for him. The world could use more guys like Akito in them and less like Ignacio. And while I'd never thought Alan was heading toward the Ignacio track, it was nice to know that he was currently firmly planted on the Akito one.

When I made it over to my dad's shop and saw that it was closed, it suddenly dawned on me. I was Friday. My dad didn't work on Fridays. Then I remembered seeing him sitting on the couch when I'd left the house earlier with his reading glasses perched on the end of his nose and some papers spread out before him on the coffee table.

I could have done a facepalm right then and there, but instead I shrugged off the fact that I seemed admittedly rather scatterbrained today and headed toward home. As fate would have it, I didn't make it that far. As fate would have it, I had just reached the spot where I'd had that argument with Courtney right outside of Bluebell when I saw her. As fate would have it, my day took a turn for the worse thanks to Courtney. She was marching up the road, in three inch heeled knee-high boots over designer jeans that were skintight, looking like she was on a mission. It was a walk full of purpose and the way she was looking at me had little alarm bells ringing in my head. Warning, warning, warning.

Her cheeks were red. Her eyes were flashing an ominous gray, the color of the sky when a storm was approaching. And for some reason I found myself frozen to that spot as if her piercing stare had nailed my shoes to the ground. She came to a stop right in front of me, looking as haughty as she typically did, but there was an animosity there that was usually hinted at on a good day, but was out in full force at the moment. She sneered at me. The woman actually _sneered_ at me!

"I bet you're good and happy now, aren't you?" she asked me, sounding enraged yet still somehow very controlled. Her nostrils were flaring and I was reminded of a bull before it charged a matador holding out a red cape. I had no idea what had happened, but Courtney was more ticked off than I had ever seen her. And while I was used to her attitude toward me by now, this was on a whole different level.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I told her truthfully. Whatever was going on, I was completely in the dark.

She went on talking as if she hadn't heard me or else had heard me and didn't care what I'd said. I was willing to bet it was the latter. "The funny thing is, I expected this. It's all your fault, you know. It's all your fault and I bet you've just been sitting back enjoying it all."

"Courtney, I have no idea what you're talking about," I tried again in as even of a tone as I could manage.

"Don't. Just don't. You've _always_ wanted him. That was obvious to me from the second I met you, looking at him like he was the last drink of water on a long walk through the desert!"

"Excuse me, what?"

"Akito! You want him and don't you even try to deny it!" Courtney practically screeched, losing what little bit of calm she'd had before.

My eyes widened and I looked away from her. Akito? Did I want Akito? Yes. I'd _always_ wanted Akito. For the better part of a decade I'd wanted him. Even when I'd tried to bury my feelings, that want had been there as an undercurrent, an invisible presence I'd always tried to ignore throughout every romantic relationship I'd ever had, including the one with Jackson. There was a part of me that wanted to deny it because Courtney was outright confronting me about it. For some reason, though, I couldn't force those words out of my mouth. The queen of half truths and almost-lies couldn't bring herself to come up with a denial. At this point, though, did it matter whether I denied it or not? Courtney wouldn't have believed it anyway.

For some reason, my silence seemed to make her feel as if she had an edge on me. She'd regained her calm. She raised her hand and looked at her palm before she curled her fingers, one by one, and inspected her nails. They looked nice, but they weren't flawless like they would be if she had access to an actual nail salon. She frowned at them as if they were a complete disappointment and then turned her frown upon me. She was simultaneously beautiful and hideous. On the outside, she was lovely. On the inside, I could see something ugly lurking.

Courtney smiled at me and it wasn't pretty because whatever she had going on inside was projecting outside. It had the opposite effect of Akito, the exact opposite. It was a real nasty sort of smile and it didn't bode well. "He could have everything with me. I told you, Violet, didn't I? My fish. My aquarium. _Everything_." Once again I remembered her awful little story about the fish. She started laughing then and it was no better than the smile. "What is there for him here? What is there for him in this. . .this _hovel_ , or the other one for that matter? Both of them, _hovels_. Nothing. This is the place people go to fade into obscurity or they are born to be _nothing_. Yet he's not nothing, is he? So why does he want to be?"

She paused and looked at me as if she were waiting for something and I tilted my head to the side just a fraction before tilting it a little more. I looked positively quizzical as I pressed a hand against my chest and asked "I'm sorry, is it my turn to speak now? Are you resting for breath?" I couldn't resist the sarcasm. "Yes, you did tell me, Courtney. You told me about that fish and quite frankly, I'm beyond tired of that analogy. Akito isn't a fish. Do you hear me? He isn't a passing fancy. He isn't a possession. What is there for him here? I'm sorry that around these parts we don't live up to your big city expectations, _Court_. I've seen the grass on the other side, though, and to me it's not greener."

"You. . ." she started.

"Oh no, we're having ourselves a little chat here and it's _my_ turn to talk, remember?" I took a step closer to her, trying not to lose my cool, but she'd worn it down until it was threadbare and once again she was causing me to approach that precipice where I wasn't sure if I'd be able to hold on. "And I'll tell you what. I'd say I was letting you in on a little secret, but I'm sure that you already know this: Akito doesn't think it's greener either. These towns we come from? They're not _hovels_. They're nothing to be looked down upon or disdained. You want to stand up on your soapbox or sit on your high horse and look your nose down at something that is less than? Look down at a picture of yourself."

Courtney's mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she was able to form any words. Her face was growing redder by the second. "You'll be the ruin of him." She was yelling again, her control over her volume gone once more. "You can stay here and be the nobody that you are while milking cows and fetching eggs from chickens. You can run around the mountains scrounging for ridiculous branches and berries, singing along with birds like some cartoon princess. But _how dare you_ tell Akito that he should do the same."

Both of my eyebrows made a quick journey toward my forehead as I let that last part sink in. "All the rest of your blasphemy aside, I didn't tell Akito to do anything."

"Didn't you? You lured _my_ boyfriend to Buena Vista and a blizzard just happens to hit, stranding the two of you there? What, exactly, did you do while you were there to get your claws into him Violet, hmm?"

My mouth shot open. "I'm not that kind of woman, Courtney. I know that you know all about doing something like that, considering we've already established that you love to bait your hook and all, but I have this thing called self-respect. Perhaps you should buy yourself a book called 'Self-Respect for Dummies. It might help you out and teach you a thing or two."

Courtney scoffed. "Puh- _lease_. I'm a woman, Violet. You're a less attractive, still moderately tempting woman. Well, you're a woman, at least. I'm sure you have your ways about you. I wasn't born yesterday."

I bristled from the insult, clenching my fists at my sides. "If you had been born yesterday, you wouldn't yet have the ability to string together the words to sound so idiotic and ignorant. Not only am _I_ not that kind of woman, but _Akito_ isn't that kind of man. If I hadn't been sure before that you don't know the first thing about him then I'm positive now."

" _You_ ," she practically growled as she pointed an accusing finger at me. "You brainwashed him, if nothing else! One day in Buena Vista with you and suddenly he starts telling me that he doesn't want to go back to the city? _You_ did this!"

For about ten seconds I'm not sure if I even breathed. All I could do was continuously turn her words over again and again in my head. Akito told her that he didn't want to go back to the city? He wasn't going back to the city?!

"I didn't do anything, Courtney. Akito is a grown man who is capable of making his own decisions. From time to time I give him my own personal opinion on this or that because he's my friend and he wants to hear what I have to say. I never strong-arm him into any decisions, though. You see, that's one of the many differences between you and I. You try to change things about him and mold him into what you want him to be. His wants, needs, and opinions pale in comparison to your own. I, on the other hand, respect him as a person. My opinions are just that. They're opinions. I don't make any demands of him. I make no ultimatums. I don't twist his arm. I don't coax him into doing anything that he doesn't want to do. I just listen and I say what I have to say and Akito does whatever it is that _he_ wants to do. He's an intelligent individual who is more than capable of free thought. He's not your puppet. And he's certainly not your fish. _Akito_ doesn't want to go back to the city. It's as simple as that. He's been trying to tell you that all along. I guess your aquarium really isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"You're pathetic. Do you know that? You're absolutely pathetic!" she yelled furiously as she raised her hand and tried to smack me across my face.

My reflexes were fast enough to allow me to block her hit. I stood there assessing Courtney and knew she was weak. She'd thrown the first hit, but I could very easily take her. I could make what I'd done to Ignacio seem tame in comparison. I could reach forward and yank Courtney's hair rather painfully. I could show her how a real slap should feel or better yet, educate her on a well-placed punch. I could brawl with her in the snow. I could. . .I could let myself sink down to her level.

And there was a part of me, a rather petty part of me, that really wanted to do just that. Perhaps a part of me already had stooped down to her level considering all that had been said thus far. I couldn't take that final step to cement it, though. I wouldn't. That wasn't me. That wasn't the person I was. Violent Violet was not about to come out to play. She almost had that day Marissa had appeared, _almost_ , but that was then and this was now.

' _I'm better than that. I'm better than_ her _. I told myself I'd do better, be better for Akito_. _I'm not willing to compromise that, not any more than I already have_.'

"You're the pathetic one, Courtney. You've never appreciated what you had right in front of you. You never saw Akito for who he is and you even have him questioning himself. _I_ know who he is, though, and I think he's starting to remember who he is as well. You can slap me if you want to, but that's not going to change. Neither will the fact that you never have been and never will be good enough for him. I'm not sure that anybody out there is, but definitely not you."

"You little. . . _Shut up!_ " she wailed as she prepared to try to slap me again, or perhaps she was going to punch me this time. I stood there like the brick house the wolf tried to blow down in that old story. I was unflinching. If she wanted to try to hit me then fine. Her hand wasn't going to reach my face just like it hadn't the last time. I would never give her that kind of satisfaction. Even if she were to hit me, in the end the only person she'd truly do damage to was herself and if she wanted to self-destruct then that was her business.

The blow that I was anticipating blocking never came, though, because suddenly Akito was standing between us. His hand was up and Courtney's fist was in his palm. He was so fast. One second he wasn't there and the next there he was. I stared at his back, a strong and solid wall between me and Courtney, as I wondered where in the world he'd come from. He'd probably come from the tunnel and we'd probably been so distracted by our argument that neither of us had sensed his presence until it was undeniably right there between us.

"A-Akito," Courtney said, sounding nothing like she had when she was addressing me. She sounded meek and guilty. In fact, her entire countenance had transformed from rabid attack dog to repentant kitten in 0.5 seconds flat.

"What are you doing, Courtney?" he asked her in a quiet voice that I hadn't heard that often throughout our lives. It was deep-seated disappointment.

Her hand left his palm and she clutched it against her chest. Almost immediately, she put it behind her back instead as if she felt the sudden need to hide it. "I-I was just talking to Violet. We ran into each other and. . ."

"Please don't lie to me," he said. "After everything else, I can't stomach a lie." She grew completely silent and he said "What were you hoping to accomplish here?"

I was looking at her from around his arm and I could tell she was having a difficult time figuring out what to say, what she should tell him. Finally, she answered him with "I don't know."

Akito's sigh resonated right through me for some reason. "Courtney, it's not Violet's fault that I'm choosing not to go back to the city. _I_ don't want to go. _Me_. This decision isn't about anybody but me. Look, I appreciate that you came all the way here for me and that you've stayed as long as you have, but let'js face it. We're not right for each other, Courtney. We never have been. The same problems we had when we broke up before never went away and then more problems only added to them. We tried to sweep them under a rug, but the dirt accumulated until we were walking on a pile of it that might as well have been hidden in plain sight."

He stood there waiting for her to say something, anything, but Courtney said nothing. She listened to him talk and I didn't know what was going on in her mind as she combed through the words he'd spoken. I would never pretend to know even the beginning of what went on in Courtney's head. All I knew was that she was listening and he was talking and I was suddenly a spectator on the sidelines. I was a spectator who wasn't sure if she should still be standing at that fence watching the players in this game, though. Still, I couldn't bring myself to leave. Maybe I was being held in place by the knowledge that I literally had Akito's back at the moment and if he needed me, I was right there.

"We're different people who want different things. I do know what I want, though, and I remember exactly who I am. I know who you are, too, and you're not this. Or maybe you have been this all along and I've been blind enough not to see it. Maybe I've always seen what I wanted to or what you wanted me to and I've never known you at all. Either way, I'm sorry I can't be the guy you want, Courtney. I can only be _me_ , the real me. I like that guy. I'm happy being that guy. I think he's enough. The right guy for you exists. He's out there somewhere, he's just not here. He's just not me."

The anger was back in Courtney's eyes now. They were flashing again as if the storm was about to fly right out of them and lightning was going to strike him on the spot. "You're a fool Akito, you know that? You're a fool!"

"Maybe I am, but I'm a fool who wishes you nothing but the best. No matter what, despite everything, I wish nothing but good things for you, Courtney." He truly meant that, too. He really did. He was that big of a person that he could let her toss those words at him and wish nothing but the best for her.

"You're going to regret this. You're going to wake up one day and you're going to wish there was more to your life than those animals and a mundane shop."

Yep, she really didn't know Akito at all. She'd never truly tried. That was her fault. That was her loss.

"I think it's time that you leave," he told her in a way that absolutely rang with finality.

Courtney's anger flared once more and she looked like she was seriously considering trying to slap him as well as she raised her hand again. At the last second, though, she dropped it to her side. The anger seemed to drain back out of her and a certain resignation seemed to have seeped into her bones. It was the end. He knew it. She knew it. They were through. "I'll be out of town before the end of the day."

With that said, she strolled by us and didn't give so much as a sideways glance. Courtney walked away with a distinct slump to her shoulders, but she managed to still look more graceful in those three inch heels than I ever would in flats. Despite everything that had transpired between us, I suddenly felt sorry for Courtney. For somebody who had so much, she appreciated very little and someday she would regret taking things for granted. Today wasn't the day, but that day would come. I stood there rooted to that spot and just watched her as she went. She didn't look back as she approached the tunnel. She didn't look back as she paused in front of it for a minute. She didn't look back as she disappeared inside. I had the distinct feeling at that moment that I would never see Courtney Sinclair again. True to her word, she was gone before the end of the day.


	34. Snowglobe

**Author's Note:** I will admit that my original vision of that encounter in the previous chapter was a physical cat-fight in which Violet, of course, would be the victor. I felt that would be a little too reminiscent of my favorite chapter of a story I wrote a long time ago called _Maid in Higurashi Manor_. Besides, Violet is better than that. Ignacio was one thing. For some reason, in my mind and Violet's, Courtney was something else altogether.

* * *

After Courtney's departure, it was as if a weight was lifted from Akito's shoulders. Every time I saw him in the days following her exit, there was a lightness to him that I hadn't truly seen for quite a while. I saw a lot of Akito during those days, too. Every time I turned around, I just happened to run into him. Not literally, it's just that he was always around. Perhaps it was because Courtney wasn't constantly trying to monopolize every ounce of his free time. That had to be it. When I did run into him, he always had this smile on his face. It was a new smile, one I'd never seen before and I wasn't sure what to make of it. I didn't know what was behind that smile. I liked it. I always liked it whenever there was something new to Akito that I'd never seen before, something more for me to figure out about him despite all my years of knowing him.

The preparations for the wedding were more under way than before considering the big day was about a week and a half away. My mornings were spent working on the farm and trying to get my mom to take it a little easier considering her back was still giving her problems. If I had enough time left in my mornings then I'd work on fulfilling the occasional request from the boards. The rest of my day was typically spent in the midst of wedding this or wedding that. I had the decorations to work on and things to discuss with Keiko and everybody else.

It occurred to me in the midst of all of this that while I was sure that Keiko and Makoto's wedding was going to be beautiful, I was kind of surprised that they weren't going with something more simple. Both of them were modest and reserved. Perhaps it was the fact that theirs was going to be the first wedding the two towns had seen since Rahi and Ying's or Cheryl and Phillips and it had been a while since these two events had taken place. I knew, though, that if I were to ever get married I would want it to be a much more simple affair. Perhaps it was the Cam Drayton in me, making me not want to have such a huge fuss made with me at the center of it.

All of the wedding preparations were put on hold for the Cooking Festival. Nothing got in the way of the Cooking Festival ever unless Pierre had to reschedule or something and even then, it was simply temporarily postponed. Way back before I was born, the Cooking Festival had been an important part in repairing the relationship between Bluebell and Konohana. Now it was one of the ways that relationship was kept healthy and maintained. Besides that, it was tradition.

This time around, Bluebell won. I participated and I liked to think that the supreme curry I'd made was what really helped us bring home the prize. I had it on good authority that supreme curry was Pierre's favorite and he'd seemed really excited when he saw it sitting on our table. All of us were up on the mountain still after the results were given out. My parents were talking to Pierre. My mom had been a really terrible cook once upon a time. She'd worked hard at getting better, though, and many times Georgia had been her guinea pig while she practiced. Once she got good, though, she'd finally managed to gain Pierre's respect and even his friendship. It also helped that he lived on the same island as her cousin, Chelsea, so that gave them one more thing in common.

People were socializing and whatnot, but it was cold and I really didn't want to linger much longer. It was even colder than usual today and the wind up on the summit was making my face feel like an icicle. I pulled my scarf up a little higher and considered standing out on the wooden ledge nearby and summoning my mom's owl to take me back to Bluebell and cut out all of that cold walking. Before I could act on it, though, I smelled laundry detergent and looked over my shoulder. Yep, there he was. Akito.

"Congratulations," he told me as he stood there with his hands in the pockets of his coat and the very rare hat upon his head. Akito never wore hats. Never. Even in winter. In fact, he reluctantly wore the hood of his jackets on his head, but he did so because winter is cold and nobody wants to freeze unless their name is Mikhail. The hat looked good on him.

I didn't needle him about the fact that he technically lived in Konohana these days because, as we'd discussed before, he was a Bluebell guy at heart. "Thanks. It was a team effort and all our hard work paid off." Howard and Eileen's dishes had gotten a favorable response as well.

He looked at me as if he possessed some kind of secret knowledge. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he knew that I'd prepared Pierre's favorite dish. "I was just about to head down the mountain. Would you like to accompany me?" he asked me as he offered me his arm."

The answer was an automatic yes, but I didn't put that into words. Instead, I asked "What makes you think I'm ready to leave?" For some reason, I really wanted to hear his answer even though I already knew what he was going to say.

"It's cold today, Violet. It's abnormally cold. You were shivering throughout the entire contest and I'm willing to bet that you're ready to get somewhere warm right now."

Well, I hadn't expected for him to say that. I had been shivering, but I was surprised he'd been watching me that closely. It was almost as closely as I tended to watch him. "You really hit the nail on the head there, didn't you?" I asked as I slipped my arm into his.

"I always try to whenever it comes to you."

Forget the owl. Walking would be just fine with me. We walked in silence for a minute before I asked "So, how are you doing?" I asked him. For all the times I had seen him since the day Courtney left, we still hadn't had any alone time together to talk about what had happened. Right after Courtney had disappeared into the tunnel, he'd given me an apology and went after her to help her get her things together, despite her objections.

He knew I was asking him more than something akin to 'how are you doing today?' He knew the root of my question was Courtney. "I'm doing fine. I'm more than fine, actually. Violet, I just feel. . .I don't know. I feel like there's something I'd lost before that I've found again. It's like parts of me were missing and I've been reassembled like a. . .

"Lego house?"

"I was going to say a puzzle, but that works, too," he told me with humor coloring his voice. I was glad he was finding me amusing.

"Ki, I," I started.

"I'm sorry," he interrupted then, suddenly and rather vehemently.

My head whipped up as I looked at him. "What in the world are you sorry for?"

"The other day, I," he began.

This time I did the interrupting. "Akito, you already told me you were sorry."

"I did, but it felt insufficient to me. I left to see to Courtney and I felt unsatisfied, as if there was more I should have said to you."

"No more apologies, okay?" I meant that. I didn't want him to apologize to me about it again.

He seemed frustrated as he reached up to run his fingers through his hair. He remembered at the last second that he was wearing a hat and let his hand drop. "You shouldn't let me off easy for this, Violet. I should be held accountable for you having to put up with Courtney before."

"I'm not letting you off easy, Akito. I just know that what I went through is nothing compared to what you went through. Not just here in the two towns, but whatever transpired between the two of you back in the city. Besides, I'm carrying around my own brand of guilt. I'm the one who should be saying they're sorry."

I avoided looking at him. Instead, I focused rather intensely on a snowball that just happened to be on the ground about ten feet away from us. I stared at that snowball until we passed by it.

"Why would _you_ have any reason to say you're sorry, Violet?" he questioned me disbelievingly.

I felt there were a lot of things I should say I was sorry for. There was a long list. I chose one of the many reasons. "I made a promise to myself, Ki. I promised myself that I would do better, that I would be better. . .How do I explain this? I guess I just really wanted to be a better friend for you and part of that was conducting myself in a better way than I did around Courtney. The things I said to her the other day. . ."

"Vi, I don't know what you and Courtney said to each other before I got there. I really don't care what you said to her because I know you. You don't say just anything to anybody at any given time. You're not a thoughtless speaker. Whatever you said to Courtney, she must have triggered that reaction in you. She must have pushed you to it."

"But I. . ."

"No, Vi. No 'buts.' Answer me this: Did she say something that provoked you?"

I wanted to say no. I really did. "Yes," I admitted reluctantly, thinking about the things Courtney had said, the way she'd said them. I thought about the way she'd looked while saying these things, like she was some predator hawk and I was a little worm in the ground.

"See? I rest my case. I'm not going to judge you, Violet, and I'm hoping you will stop judging yourself. By the way, if I can't make anymore apologies then I'd appreciate it if the same went for you. No more apologies, Vi. Alright? It's over and done with and I promise I won't dwell on it if you don't either. Do you promise?"

He made it sound so simple. Perhaps it was more simple than I was making it out to be, though. Maybe I was the one who was making it hard in the first place and if that was the case then I wanted to stop doing that. If not for my own sake, then for his. "I promise."

"Good. Now that we have that settled and all of my pieces have been picked back up and put where they belong, maybe we can both move forward."

"I'm glad that Humpty Dumpty got put back together again after all," I told him as I saw snow start to fall around us. If nobody else had started heading for home after the contest then they sure would soon.

"If I'm Humpty Dumpty then does that make you all the king's horses and all the king's men?"

"Wait, what?" I asked, peering up at him wondering what he was talking about, where he was going with this.

"You helped put me together again, Violet," he said quietly, thoughtfully, while he looked forward and paid attention to where we were walking since I clearly wasn't at the moment and I could easily trip over something as clumsy as I was.

"You do know that the king's horses and men couldn't actually put him back together again, right?" I asked, trying not to show how flustered I was by his words. I certainly felt flustered, though, and I looked away from him.

He paused a beat before he came back at me with "Okay, you're right. You're not the king's horses and men, then. You did help put me back together, though, Violet, and that just goes to show how much more competent and capable you are than all of them put together."

Boom. Clap. Boom-clap. You'd think that by now I'd be used to that sensation, yet it never failed to catch me by surprise when it showed up. Every time, it felt completely new to me and I found myself wishing that it would never, ever get old to me. Still, though, I tried to tame my own heart beat because I felt his words, while so beautiful, were not deserved. Not by me.

"Oh Ki, I. . .I didn't do anything, though."

He laughed then. He laughed! I failed to see the humor in the situation, but his laugh was a balm to me, and it made me warm when the wind insisted I should be cold. He stopped walking and turned, putting his hands on my shoulders.

"That's just how you are, Vi. That's how you've always been. You can't see yourself or your actions clearly. You perceive yourself _and_ your actions to be less than you should." He held my chin between his thumb and index finger before tilting my face up so I'd look at him. I did. I saw those twin suns resting on either side of his nose and I wondered what was fueling their intensity. " _I_ see you clearly, though, Violet. I see you."

My breath caught in my lungs. The strange thing was, at that moment, I had never felt more. . .more _seen_ in my entire life. My voice was strangely absent for a minute there. When it showed back up I said "Is that so?"

"Yes. Listen, you were there whenever I needed you to be. You never pressured me, just gave me your opinions and helped me hear my own voice over the ghost of Courtney's that was always ringing in my head. I forgot who I was for a while there, but you sat there across from me at that table in Buena Vista and you reminded me of who I am. Don't you see now? You _did_ help put me back together after all."

I recalled the impassioned speech I'd given him that evening. I'd meant every single word I'd said and I didn't regret saying a single one, but they'd been spoken in the heat of the moment and I distinctly remembered that I'd almost slipped up and told him I loved him. I knew that as Akito's friend, he respected my opinions, but I hadn't realized that my words would mean so much to him. I hadn't expected them to mean so much that he would credit me with something I felt was rather momentous.

I was kind of at a loss for words. I grasped for something to say and came up with "For an egg that was broken, I can't tell where there were ever any cracks."

"I knew you were checking my shell out," he responded and if I had been walking I surely would have tripped and landed with a face full of snow.

It wasn't the first time he'd said something like that, yet I never saw that kind of a line coming. From any other guy, I'd call that flirting. Any other guy. As it was, a blush was rapidly approaching. Maybe I'd get lucky and he'd think the wind was at fault. "What can I say? Eggs just really do it for me. Hard-boiled. Scrambled. Omelets. The possibilities are endless."

His laughter was my reward, a trophy I could never put on a shelf. It was something that should be prized, but not possessed, and infinitely more valuable than a physical item could ever be. He got serious on me again, though, as he said "Thank you, Violet."

I was well-aware that he was thanking me for the whole helping to put him back together thing. Even if I didn't think I'd done much of anything, he certainly did. And considering that it was _his_ life we were talking about, perhaps his opinion was the one that truly mattered in this case. Therefore, I relented.

"You're welcome."

A gust of wind blew, powerful and reminiscent of the wind that had stirred during the blizzard. Yet this wind was different, too. There wasn't anything threatening about it. No, if anything it was somehow _magical_. It was cold, but magical as it sent the snow swirling around us as if we were two stationary figures within a snow globe. This was one of those moments where I felt such an insane connection to him that I couldn't believe he didn't feel it, too. How could he _not_ feel it, too? How could the inferno raging through me not fry him on the spot? Well, maybe not _fry_ him because that would be bad, but how could he not feel this?

He reached up and swept his hand across my nose and I nearly crossed my eyes trying to stare down the bridge of my nose to the tip. I was giving myself a bit of a headache with the effort I was exerting. Akito chuckled and said "Cute, Vi. Real cute." There was nothing derogatory about it. The way he'd said it suggested he'd found me nothing short of adorable in that moment. "There was a snowflake on your nose, but it's gone now. Here." Akito pulled my scarf up to cover my nose and the rest of the lower half of my face. He tied it in such a way that it wouldn't slip down. It was a really chunky scarf so my neck was still protected. "There. You're safe from their icy treachery."

"Thanks," I said, my voice slightly muffled, grateful that my cheeks were covered now because I felt they were destined to go red again.

Just then we could hear voices coming from higher up on the mountain. Apparently everybody else was on the move and eager to get out of the snow. Akito offered me his arm again and I took it before we continued our walking. It was funny how I could be so eager to get out of the cold, yet didn't mind spending however many minutes I'd spent just standing there talking to Akito. I could still feel his hand sweeping ever so gently across my nose and I felt flustered in that way that only Akito had the power to make happen. I searched for something else to talk about.

"Oh, hey, I almost forgot. I ran into Alan the other day." I hadn't mentioned it to him since it had happened and this seemed as good a time as any.

"Did you now?"

"Yeah. What in the world did you say to him, Ki? The kid has done a total turn-around."

Akito shook his head. "I can't tell you that, Vi. It was a sacred conversation between brothers."

"Ah, I see. Man to man, huh?"

"You could say that," he told me. "He _did_ behave himself, though?"

"He was such a gentleman that he even told me he was going to ask Dirk for permission to take Serena out on a date."

We discussed Alan and his improved behavior for a little while longer. Then we walked in a companionable silence for a while. Once we were down off the mountain and heading up the main road, Akito nodded over toward the church. "We should hang out over there by the fountain once spring comes around and the weather warms up."

"Why?" I questioned.

"You know all of my favorite places, Vi." Well, that was true. I even knew that obscure, out the way spot up near the waterfall that he liked to go to. That new smile was on his face again as he said "I happen to know all of yours, too."

Akito had known me just as long as I'd known him. It would stand to reason that he would know such things about me. So why did I find myself feeling strangely surprised and. . .I don't know, flattered? My cheeks were feeling warm and it wasn't from the scarf, although that scarf was certainly a welcome presence at the moment.

"Sounds fun. We should go horseback riding together when it gets warm, too. It'll be just like old times when we used to go riding together back in the day." I thought about what he'd said before when he'd insisted on taking me to Buena Vista himself, something about me being as distracted as a teenaged driver and the possibility of me crashing a horse into a tree. "You know, without me in maximum rage mode and so emotionally unstable that I could crash a poor horse into a tree."

"Well I've always loved. . ." He cleared his throat. "horses. I couldn't let you take that risk. I think we should definitely go riding, though."

It wasn't even spring yet and I already had so much to look forward to. "I guess we have plans, then. Don't forget to pencil me into your calendar."


	35. The Starry Night Festival

**Author's Note:** I was experiencing a mild case of writer's block. Then I saw that _My Best Friend's Wedding_ was coming on the tv so I watched that because I love that movie. Whatdya know, snapped me right out of it. It really made me think about how much I've put poor Violet through. Also, I'm giving you all a head's up. There are only six chapters left in the story. It was supposed to just be five more, but the chapter I'm currently writing was necessary to wrap it all up. Here we go.

* * *

I missed Jackson. Like. . .I seriously missed Jackson in a non-romantic way. Sure, things were still pretty complicated between us. After all, I'd gone twenty-four years accepting him as my cousin and then spent a large chunk of the current year trying to convince myself otherwise. We'd gotten together. We were broken up. We were exes. Even though it wasn't the same as before, though, we were family. Yes, as convoluted and strange as it sounds all put together, we were. . .family. And I missed him. I felt weird trying to bring him up to Laney or Howard whenever I dropped by the cafe, though.

Even if all of Jackson's family had been understanding and still loved me as much as they ever had, I still didn't feel as if I had the right to poke my nose into his business that much just yet. Maybe in time I'd feel comfortable doing that, but I wasn't there yet. I fully believed Jackson when he said we'd be alright. I _knew_ we would be alright. What was it he'd told me before? He'd told me that he was a patient man. Well, I was a patient woman. That being said, I was growing rather impatient waiting for him to decide to come back to town. He should have been back already. Why wasn't he back? Had I hurt him so badly that he was considering not coming back at all? How would I explain that to Makoto? Would I have to say something like 'Oh, my bad Makoto. You'll have to rethink who you want to be your best man because I ran Jackson out of town for good.'

It hadn't taken much to convince Colby to go to the cafe and inquire as to how Jackson was for me. When she came back, she told me that Laney had told her he was doing just fine and he'd be home before the wedding. If that were the case then he didn't have much longer to get back before said wedding, which would be happening the very next week. Which brought me back to the whole what would I tell Makoto if Jackson didn't come back thing.

My head was full of all of that, too full. I seriously needed a distraction. Perhaps that was why, when I walked into the living room and saw Oliver sitting there, I decided that I would stick my nose in his business a little. I was his big sister and he needed a little push so his day could go the way he deserved for it to.

"Ollie!" I practically sang as I sank down onto the couch next to him.

He immediately looked suspicious, wary, cautious. He was a smart boy, that Oliver. "Hey, sis. What's up?"

"Nothing." It sounded like music as it left my lips and Oliver sat up straighter as if he were bracing himself for whatever was about to come. "So, big night tonight?"

"Wait, what?" he asked. He reached for the cup of tea that was sitting before him on the coffee table and looked at me nervously from over the top of the cup.

"It's the Starry Night festival tonight, isn't it?

"And?" He took a drink.

" _And_? What? You haven't invited Kimberly over?"

He started choking on his tea. I immediately went about patting his back like I had whenever mom let me hold him when he was a baby. "Geez, Vi, are you trying to kill me?" he questioned as he sat the tea down and took a few deep breaths.

"Of course not. I'd miss you too much. You're my one and only little brother and I love you. And since I am, you know, your one and only big sister I just thought I'd see if you had special plans for the night."

"Yeah, well. . ." he paused and looked at me out the corner of his eye and to his credit, he didn't look away even though I could tell he wanted to. "I don't."

"Why not? If she hasn't asked you over to her house then she's probably waiting for you to ask her."

"I don't know, I. . .W-What if she says no?" He completely turned and looked straight at me then and I could see the anxiety on his face.

I could understand that worry. I actually knew those kinds of worries so well that they were like old friends. When it came to something like that, though, I didn't want Oliver to be like me. I didn't want him to drag his feet with uncertainty and spend the next ten years or so of his life secretly pining for Kimberly. It was a case of do as I say, not as I do.

"She won't say no," I assured him as I took his hands in mine and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"You can't know that for sure," he rebuffed.

"You gave her chocolate for Spring Harmony, right? And she gave you chocolate for Winter Harmony?"

"Yeah, but. . ."

I suddenly thought about all of that good advice I'd received myself that I had yet to actually heed. "If you don't put yourself out there and try, if you don't just go for it then. . .you'll always wonder 'what if.' You'll wonder what would've happened if you'd asked her and since you'll never have a definitive answer, the question will always haunt you. Trust me, you don't want to be stuck in that kind of purgatory. You're a great guy, Oliver. Actually, you're a real catch. I think you should ask Kimberly to come because no girl in her right mind would say no to you."

"I-I-I," he stammered as he looked away. His mouth opened and closed a few times and his cheeks were dusted with the essence of cherries from his embarrassment. He let out a sigh and said "You know what? I think I will."

He downed the rest of his tea like he was drawing courage from it or something and I cheered him on as he made his way toward the door. I wasn't worried about him, not one little bit. He paused in the doorway and looked back at me from under his hat. I gave him two thumbs up and he gave me a little smile before grabbing his jacket and closing the door behind him. I didn't have any doubts in my mind that Kim would be joining my family for dinner that night.

I had plans for the night myself, but they weren't exactly the traditional kind. I was going to spend the evening with Colby. Jackson and I were broken up. Colby and Ignacio were _finally_ broken up. Both of us were newly single. It was Colby's idea for us to have this banding together of singles. She told me that even if her and Ignacio hardly ever spent a Starry Night festival together, at least she'd always had the knowledge that she did have a boyfriend. And that had been a constant for about seven years. Now she was having to experience the holiday for the first time in a long time as an unattached lady and while I was fine with being alone, it was pretty new to her. Therefore, as her best friend, it was my duty to see her through this transitional time.

Oliver came back soon enough with color flooding his cheeks and a heartwarming smile on his face. He gave me a thumbs up as soon as he stepped inside the house. At least one of us was close to getting what we wanted and I was happy for him. My little brother and my best friend's little sister? How could I not be all for that? Mom was thrilled to find out that Oliver invited Kim over and promptly left to ask Reina what her favorite dishes were so she could cook something special up for our guest.

Right when I started getting ready, just like I knew she would, Colby showed up. How did she always know exactly when to show up like that as I was getting ready? It's like she had some sixth sense or something. She was sitting on my bed with her shoes kicked off and watched as I rummaged through my closet.

"No, not that," she said as I held a long-sleeved turquoise shirt against me and went to stand in front of the mirror.

"What?" I asked as I looked at my reflection. "It's a nice shirt."

"It's plain, Violet," she declared as she waved toward the shirt in question.

"It's not plain, Col. And besides, I'm not trying to impress anybody," I informed her as I returned the shirt to the closet because her opinion did matter.

"You should be," she told me with an expression that gave me pause.

I stopped what I was doing and looked over my shoulder suspiciously. "Who, exactly, should I be trying to impress?"

She gave me a disbelieving look before motioning at herself. "Me, of course! Am I not your date for this evening? I feel a little insulted, Vi, really. Do I really not warrant at least a little effort?"

At that declaration I turned around and gave her a good looking over. There she was sitting on my bed in a pair of overalls and a long-sleeved cinnamon shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and her favorite cap was on her head. She didn't look like she was trying to impress anyone. She didn't look like she was trying to impress me and certainly not that sleazeball Ignacio. I was proud. Colby was a tomboy at heart and there she was sitting there looking like her normal self and that in and of itself impressed me.

"Alright," I softened as I gestured toward the closet. "What do you suggest I wear, then?"

Colby hopped up off the bed so fast that I would have missed it if I'd blinked. She gently nudged me aside and started rifling through my clothes. "Hmm. . ." she said as she grabbed an eggplant top and held it against me. She then shook her head and hung it back up. "Aha!" she said as she grabbed a fitted ruby red cable-knit turtleneck sweater with sequins interspersed throughout. It had been a birthday present from Marissa one year. I think she actually gave a tailor my measurements so it would fit me just right. It wasn't my style, but I wore it every now and then to appease her. "This will do."

"Now what?" I asked as she took it off the hanger, draped it over my shoulder, and then renewed her search.

"Well now you need pants, of course." She didn't say 'duh,' but I could hear it there in her voice. She threw what was probably the tightest pair of jeans I owned onto the bed and then said "Now for the shoes."

"I think I can handle that, thank you," I told her as I selected a pair of black boots that went halfway to my knees and had an inconspicuous kitten heel. She looked like she wanted to search for something flashier, but apparently thought better of it.

That should have made my little alarm bells ring, but it didn't. I soon realized why she'd given up on the shoes without a fight since she suddenly decided I needed to wear makeup. At least she didn't have a problem with my hair. . .

"You look great," she assured me as she gave me an approving nod. "You are now worthy of being my date."

"Geez, I'm so glad I finally have your approval. Are you sure I shouldn't throw a few bracelets on while we're at it?"

"Well. . ." she started as she considered me. "Nope. That would be overkill, I think."

"Good."

While I was putting on my boots she looked down at her watch. "Alright, hustle lady. Chop, chop. We need to get going." She then remembered that she'd taken her own shoes off and hurried to put them back on.

"Bossy much, Col?"

"What? I don't want us to be late."

"Late for what, exactly?" I asked as I put on a scarf and then headed for the living room.

"It's a surprise," she said simply as we put on our coats and pulled on gloves.

"We're heading out, mom!" I called out so she could hear me in the kitchen.

"Have fun!" she called back before we stepped out into the cold air that I'd been dreading.

As we walked down the driveway I rubbed my arms with my hands and wished that I had on about five more layers under the coat. "So, what's this surprise you have planned?"

"You'll see soon enough."

I let out a slightly dramatic sigh to express my exasperation, but remained quiet otherwise. Once we got to the main road Colby pulled something out of her pocket that looked an awful lot like a blindfold.

"What is that?"

"A blindfold," Colby confirmed with a mischievous glint to her eyes that reminded me of Jackson. "Come on, turn around. Don't struggle and you'll make this all easier on yourself."

"You're crazy," I teased as I did as she said and turned around.

"Crazy brilliant," she told me as she put the blindfold across my eyes and tied it up. Then she spun me around about three times. "Alright, we're good to go. Oh, wait." She pulled my hood back over my head before I could lodge a complaint. "Okay, now we're good to go."

She grabbed my arm to lead me because not only was I clumsy, but now I was blindfolded _and_ dizzy. A minute later I felt a shift in our surroundings and I asked "Are we in the tunnel?"

That question and any other question I asked after that were met with silence. If it weren't for Colby's hand on my arm I'd think she wasn't there at all. Soon enough we came to a stop and she finally said "Okay, we're here."

"Which is where?" I questioned, wondering if I was finally going to get an answer. Colby quickly untied the blindfold and pulled it away. My mouth opened and closed a couple of times without any sound coming out. I was suddenly reminded of when Oliver had done the exact same thing earlier.

"Surprise!" she said, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

I pointed toward the door of Kana's shop and finally found my voice. "What is this?"

"Technically it's Kana's shop, but it's really more Akito's shop these days," she quipped.

"Why are we here?"

"I just got to thinking. I'm single. You're single. Guess who else is recently single. That's right, Akito. I thought it would be pretty crummy if we left him out. I mean, what kind of a friend would that make me if I let him sit at home by himself while we had ourselves a good time? Or worse, what kind of a friend would that make me if I let him go to his parents house and eat dinner with them as the single brother while Alan had Serena over?"

I was in the middle of forming a response when the door opened and then there he was, filling up the entire doorway. "I thought I heard something out here."

His eyes immediately went to me or maybe I just failed to notice him look over at Colby because, you know, my eyes were still adjusting to the light pouring out the door after having the blindfold on all that time.

Colby elbowed me in the ribs and I immediately shot off with "Yes, sir. Here we are, coming to have a lovely dinner with our dear old buddy Akito." I then gave him some awkward little salute and immediately felt stupid. He started laughing at me, though, and the sound of it filled me with pure joy.

"You're such a goof sometimes, Vi," Colby said with a shake of her head.

Akito stepped away from the door and motioned inside. "Where are my manners? Please come in, ladies. I mean, if Violet has to stand out in the cold any longer then she's not going to be a happy camper."

"Don't mind if I do," Colby said as she went inside. I followed behind her and somehow managed to brush against Akito on my way through the door. Colby whirled around suddenly and almost bumped into me in the process. "Ugh, oh man, I'm such a scatterbrain sometimes."

"What's wrong, Col?" Akito asked as he closed the door behind us.

"I meant to bring something along with me, but I left it at the house when I went to round up Violet," she told him as she gave him her very best apologetic look.

I wasn't buying it. "And what, exactly, did you leave behind?"

"These really delicious soft chocolates that I thought we could snack on while waiting on dinner." She looked at me and I looked at her and I honestly couldn't tell if she was lying even though I had a feeling in my gut that suggested she was. Plus, she was pulling the chocolate card. Was I willing to miss out on chocolate on the off-chance that she was telling the truth? She sensed the moment she won the battle. Of course, she knew all along that she would win it because chocolate was my guilty pleasure. "Look, I'll head home real quick and grab them and then I'll be right back."

"Are you sure you want to go all the way back for them? It's getting late." Akito asked as he tugged on Colby's hat teasingly.

She swatted his hand away with a smile I didn't trust spreading across her face. "Trust me, they're worth it. They're so delicious that you two will be thanking me for going back for them." With that said, she made her way back to the door and opened it up. She looked back at us and said "You guys can start without me, okay? Don't wait on my account. See you soon." With that said, she left us. Just like that.

I stood there at the front of the shop with Akito wondering what in the world I should do now because Colby had totally put me in an awkward and unexpected position. Then, though, I reminded myself that being in any situation with Akito was only as awkward as I allowed it to be so I loosened up. I mean, didn't I just have to spend the night in Buena Vista with him because of a blizzard? That wasn't all that awkward so why did this feel so awkward? Why would spending the Starry Night festival with a friend that I was secretly madly in love with not that long after he broke up with the worst woman on the planet feel awkward? Oh, right. Yeah, that's why. . .

"Can I take your coat?" Akito asked. I was so, so grateful that he spoke first because it gave me something to respond to instead of grasping for something to start a conversation with.

"Sure. I mean, far be it for me to spend the whole evening standing around in my coat like a weirdo."

He laughed again. "Alright, then." He patiently waited for me to finish with the buttons and then helped me slip it off. He hung it up and smiled back at me. "You look nice, Vi. That's a great sweater."

Of course, Colby's insistence that I wear a sparkly red sweater made perfect sense now. "Thanks, Ki. You look nice, too."

Well, that was an understatement, but I couldn't tell him just how good I thought he looked in the cobalt blue sweater he was rocking. It was a v-neck and had black sleeves.

"So, what are you in the mood to eat?" he asked me as he put his hands in his pockets and strolled back toward me.

"I'm not sure," I told him as I leaned against the counter. "I'm the guest. I don't want to come up in here being bossy."

He quirked an eyebrow. "It's not being bossy if I asked for your opinion, you know." Well geez. He had me there. "How about we go to the kitchen and figure out what sounds good to us in there?"

"That sounds good to me."

As I was following him toward the back he pointed over toward the shelf and said "Don't forget to say hi to mini Delilah."

"Oh!" I looked over at the little wooden figurine I'd made for him for his birthday. "Right. How rude of me, just so rude." I went over to the shelf and stroked the little horse's back. "It's nice to see you again, mini Delilah. I'm sure Akito's been taking great care of you."

"You got that right," he told me with a grin.

When I was done with mini Delilah we went to the back and I felt something brush against my leg. I looked down and saw a puppy with black fur and white paws wagging its little tail. "Aww!" I said as I bent down and picked the puppy up, cuddling it in my arms. "You have a new addition here, I see."

"That's right," he said as he came over and scratched the puppy behind the ears. "This here is Rosie. She's a good girl, isn't that right?" The puppy licked his hand and he smiled. "She needs a little extra attention right now so I let her stay out with me when all the other animals are settled in for the night."

"That's so sweet. Isn't he sweet, little Rosie?" I asked her as I cuddled her against me. She replied by licking my chin.

"I thought I might take Rosie over to the farm when she gets a little older and give her to our goddaughter."

Okay, he was beyond sweet. He was so sweet I could feel a cavity forming in one of my teeth. I'm sure that by now you know exactly what my heart was doing because of him. "She's going to love her," I told him softly as I put the puppy back on her feet. Rosie ran off under the table and started chasing her own tail.

"I was hoping you would say that."

I entered the kitchen area and then turned around. "Why?"

Akito shrugged as he went over to the refrigerator and peered inside. "Well, you're my co-godparent. Your opinion about all things impacting baby Violet are important to me. And once they both get older, a dog will be a big responsibility for a little girl."

I resisted the impulse to sigh wistfully and somewhat longingly. Instead, I went over to the sink and washed my hands. The voice inside my head was chanting 'I love you, I love you, I love you.' I'd always loved Jackson, but in an entirely different way. And though I'd really tried to make our relationship work, there was no denying the fact that I was still in love with Akito the entire time. In that case, I felt the relationship was probably doomed to fail at some point even if kissing Jackson hadn't felt like I was kissing my cousin. My heart belonged to Akito and amazingly, I was only just now starting to understand just how completely he unwittingly owned it. I studied his profile as he looked around in the refrigerator. I saw the curve of his neck. The strong jawline. Those high cheekbones. The auburn ponytail that was always and forever trailing over his shoulder. All Courtney had ever been able to see was that physical beauty when there was so much more to him than that. So much more.

Akito looked at me from over the refrigerator door and said "So, how do you feel about peeling some potatoes with me?"

"Oh, the mere thought of it excites me." He probably thought I was being sarcastic, but I was actually telling the truth. "What are we cooking?"

He grabbed a bowl of potatoes and shut the refrigerator door before sitting them on the counter. He gently nudged me aside so he could wash his hands, too, his arm brushing mine. How come I could feel the warmth of his arm through not one, but two sweaters? "Well, Colby isn't back yet to give her opinion so I'm going to focus on making _you_ happy. How does stew sound?"

Be still my beating heart. He was suggesting we make my favorite dish for dinner? Sure, Akito didn't know my old family recipe that I loved so much. Something told me, though, that the stew I would whip up with Akito would be just as delicious if not more so.

"You really do know how to make me happy, don't you? You're the best, Ki."

"For you, I try to be," he said kind of absentmindedly. He paused in the process of drying his hands and looked kind of shocked for a moment before he cleared his throat. "Alright then. I guess we'd better get started."

We worked side by side to prepare the stew with Rosie the puppy scampering around all over the place until she finally wore herself out and crawled into her little bed. We talked and laughed together the entire time, especially when we started reminiscing. Once the stew was done, we sat down together at the table and had a wonderful meal together. Later, after Akito walked me home and I watched him walk back down the driveway, it dawned on me that Colby never came back and we had totally forgotten all about her. It also occurred to me that disappearing on us had definitely been her plan all along.


	36. Violet's Birthday

I was in the midst of putting the final touches on some of the wedding decorations the next afternoon while I thought about the previous night. Colby had totally planned all of that. In fact, I had called her out on it that morning after I finished up with my work on the farm. Sure, I had to be over at her place to fulfill a request for Reina and collect my reward, but I would have been over there right after work anyway. There really had been some soft chocolates. Colby had left them on purpose and she had never intended to come back with them. When she got tired of listening to me fuss at her, she'd waved the plate of chocolates in front of me and ended the conversation that way. I am ashamed to admit that I caved quite easily under the sway of those chocolates.

It had been a wonderful night. It really had. Any time that I ever spent with Akito was wonderful to me and it never really mattered what we were doing just as long as we were together. Whenever I was around him I was happier than any other time of the day. And I was a generally happy person so. . .yeah. The only way the night could have been better was if I had been in there in a romantic capacity as his actual date.

Ever since Akito and Courtney broke up I'd been doing a lot of thinking. I'd been thinking about all of that advice I had been given that had basically told me to go for it or else risk regretting it my entire life. All of the advice I'd been given by my mom, Colby, and even Jackson pointed straight toward me telling Akito that I had always been in love with him and then dealing with the aftermath that was sure to come. Last night, as I'd had that dinner with Akito, I'd wanted to. I'd suddenly really wanted to. For some unknown reason I had felt unaccountably brave. Maybe I was finally just reaching my limit of secrets and longing and always never knowing for sure. . .I'd wanted to open up my mouth and say "So, Ki, I hate to spring this on you now, but you've owned my heart for about half of my life."

Well, maybe not those exact words, but I had wanted to get the idea across to him somehow. The thing was, though, it hadn't been too long since my relationship with Jackson came to an end and it certainly hadn't been that long since Akito broke up with Courtney. I didn't want to make it seem as if. . .as if I was trying to turn him into a rebound and didn't really feel as deeply about him as I did. Or, if on the extremely slight off-chance he did say he wanted to give something with me a go, I didn't want to feel like I was a rebound after his breakup with Courtney.

I had spent so much time after Courtney came to town thinking that I should have told him sooner. There were so many days filled with me lingering on my regrets and what ifs, wondering what might have happened if I had opened up my mouth before the day of the Hand Fishing contest. I hadn't thought I would get another chance, but Courtney was gone and I had a chance now. I had the chance to tell this romantically unattached man all the things I had held back for so long. Yet, there I was hesitating once again. Something was different now, though. Something was distinctly different. Finally, I had every intention of telling him. I was terrified, but I planned to tell him. The thing was, I just needed a little more time to go by before I made my move. The last thing I wanted was for him to think he was a rebound.

I heard something hit my window and that snapped me out of my thoughts. I froze right in the middle of cutting a ribbon and turned my head toward the window. Something hit it again and my heart kind of stalled in my chest. There was only one person I knew with a tendency to throw stuff at my window. I dropped the ribbon and scissors and jumped up, hurrying over to the window and parting the curtains.

There he was, standing in the middle of the snow with his silvery-white hair making him look like he absolutely belonged. He was all bundled up against the cold, looking warm and perfectly at ease. He had a snowball in his hand and I noticed the remnants of the ones he had already thrown sticking to the glass of my window. His eyes were fixed on me and they were just as bright and green as I remembered. Jackson was finally back!

I hurried to pull on a pair of boots and grabbed a coat. I was almost afraid he'd just disappear before I made it out the front door. Maybe I just imagined him out there to begin with. But no, he didn't disappear. When I closed the front door behind me he was right where I'd seen him. The two of us kind of stood there for a minute silently assessing each other. There he was, my ex, my cousin, my friend. I wasn't sure how to approach him though. I wasn't really sure how he wanted me to approach him and that made me feel uncertain. Suddenly, though, he dropped the snowball from his hand and opened up his arms. I took his invitation as I closed the distance between us. I threw my arms around him and let him envelope me with his. As I breathed in that familiar scent of grass I smiled against his chest.

"I'm home, Vi," he told me as we dropped our arms and pulled away from each other at last.

Just like that, all the awkwardness was gone again and being around him felt normal. It felt right. I reached up and pulled his face to me before I placed a kiss on his cheek, just like I always had. It was a special kiss that I had usually always reserved for my cousin. "Welcome home Jack." Then, I pushed him on the chest. "It's about time! Some best man you are, staying gone so long."

Jackson laughed at me and put his arms in front of himself in defense. "I know, Violet. Really, I do. I honestly didn't mean to stay away this long. Things really started to line up for me while I was away and those gigs went even better than expected. Before I knew it, I was committed to more than I had originally planned. Seriously, though, I plan to be by Makoto's side so much from now on that even Keiko will get tired of me."

It was my turn to laugh because Keiko normally didn't get tired of anybody. Well, unless your name was Courtney, but that was a special case. "Your trip was good then? I'm so happy to hear that."

"Better than good!" he enthused. "In fact, at the beginning of spring I'm leaving out again for a little while. More gigs have already been set up and I really can't complain about having employment now can I?"

The thought of him leaving again so soon made me sad, but then again that was how it had always been with Jackson and his music. He was in and out of town, usually for uncertain amounts of time. It had been a slow year for him up until now and I had been in the city for so long that I'd never had to see him come and go like that. I could and would adjust, though. My days of paranoia about running Jackson out of town were over. Jackson wasn't running away anywhere. He would always come back.

"It's not about employment and you know it. Music is fun for you. Getting money for it is just a bonus." That was true. Maybe that was why I had felt so drawn to drawing Jackson that day we had our first date. Whenever he was playing music there was a certain sense of peace and happiness about him that I was pretty sure I got whenever I was in the zone working on an artistic project.

He flashed me that dimple again as he grinned. "It's nice to get that bonus, but you are right."

Something occurred to me then that I had to ask. "By the way, Jack, did you get that chocolate I sent you for Winter Harmony?"

He gave me two thumbs up. "I did. It was delicious and I felt like I was getting a piece of home. You timed that out just right. I'm guessing you went to my mom and asked about my schedule like I suggested?"

"Yep," I admitted as one of our cats brushed against my legs before moving on her way.

"Thanks, Vi. It was nice not to be forgotten even though I was away from home," he told me earnestly as he gave me another hug.

"You're welcome." I thought back to that last conversation we'd had. Before I had ran into Jackson in the town square, there were all these things I'd felt I needed to talk to him about. There were all these things I had felt I needed to say to him after our relationship came to an end. Our conversation had been pretty one sided, though, and I had let him tell _me_ all the things _he_ had felt he needed to say. Now that I was finally about to talk to him again, though, all those things I had felt needed to be said suddenly didn't matter anymore. They were insignificant. There was something that I did want to say to him, though. "Look. I know that we've established that we're definitely cousins, Jack. And I want you to know that I agree with you. I think we're going to be just fine and I can already feel that we're getting there. I want you to know that I'm always going to be your friend and if the least I can do is send you something chocolate then hey, I'm gonna do that."

I heard him take a deep breath and then exhale before he answered with "I'm glad to hear that, Violet. I really am."

When we stepped back I asked "Hey, do you want to come inside and get something hot to drink? Maybe a snack?"

Jackson shot me an apologetic look. "I'd love to, but I really wanted to get a quick start on making my absence up to Makoto. You know, if I don't start crushing this best man role then Akito might try to jump in and make a case in his favor again."

"And you can't have that happening now can you?" I asked with an amused shake of my head.

"Nope. Anyway, I'll take a rain check. Maybe sometime soon we can have a bite to eat at the cafe or something. I guess it doesn't matter where or what just as long as we can catch up some more before I head out again."

I nodded at that. "Sounds good."

"Oh, one last thing," he told me as he started walking backward down the driveway. "Your birthday is tomorrow. Don't think I've forgotten that. I wasn't going to miss the big wedding, but I wasn't going to miss your special day either."

With that said, he turned around and walked away. I watched him go with a good feeling building up in my chest. For a brief time Jackson had been something more to me, but ultimately he really was my cousin. And I, Violet Drayton, was at peace with that. That peaceful feeling stayed with me the rest of the day.

The next day was that one day out of the whole year that was completely about me. I hadn't really been thinking about it all that much. And by that I mean I had done my best not to think about it at all because I was turning the big two five. Twenty-five. Just like that, a quarter of my life had blown by. You see, whenever you are a kid and a teenager you are always eager for your birthday to come around. You are always eager to grow up. Yay, one year older! One year closer to adulthood and freedom and whatnot! Except, there comes a time when you are an adult when you view your birthday with far less enthusiasm and realize there's this thing called aging and then all of a sudden your birthday isn't such a grand thing. Well, unless you're Keiko or Willow, in which case you look younger than average and won't have to worry about such things for a long while.

"Good morning!" my family chimed as I entered the kitchen for the birthday breakfast I'd been expecting and looking forward to.

"Aww, for me you guys? You shouldn't have," I told them as I passed out hugs and kisses. I ruffled Oliver's hair and he gave me a slightly irritated look before he remembered it was my birthday and switched over to a smile. My dad had my usual chair pulled out for me helped me take my seat.

"This is the first time you've been home for your birthday in a long time," my mom gushed as she sat my plate down in front of me. "I think we really should have."

"Happy birthday, baby," my dad said as he leaned down and kissed me on top of my head.

"Ooh, a farmer's breakfast! Thanks you guys!" I said as they took their seats and I took a bite. It was spicy. "Dad, did you add some cayenne to mine?" When he nodded I raised my hand and managed to get a hi-five out of him.

My mom was right. I hadn't been home for my birthday in a long time and I had to admit to myself that there was a party of me that had been looking forward to my birthday all year even if I'd been dreading turning twenty-five. I'd been looking forward to spending the day with them.

"So, do you have any special plans today?" mom asked over the top of her coffee cup as she held it in front of her mouth.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. After we're done with the farm work I think I'll go and see if there are any interesting requests up on the board."

"Vi, you really should aim higher than that," Oliver said disapprovingly.

I was being chastised by my little brother because I wasn't trying to make my birthday into a big deal? I looked over at my dad for a little backup since he didn't like too much attention heaped upon him and always preferred a relatively quiet birthday.

"He's right, Violet. You deserve to have a great day," my father told me.

Traitor.

"Look, I'm fine with a quiet day. If it'll make you guys feel any better to know, Colby mentioned her and the girls have something special planned for me around noon. How's that?"

"Better," mom joined in cheerfully. "I'm sure those three have cooked something nice up between them. Just don't forget, sweetie, to be home in time for dinner. Don't be late okay?"

"Oh, I'll be here five minutes early, even," I assured her. There was no way I was going to be late to my own birthday dinner. I usually requested stew, but considering I'd just cooked some with Akito I told my mom to feel free to surprise me. I was sure that whatever she whipped up was bound to be ridiculously delicious.

After breakfast I proceeded with working on the farm as usual. I was in the barn brushing one of our horses, Maron, minding my own business when it happened.

"When's _your_ birthday, hmm?" Maron was born when I was eighteen, before I left for college. I'd taken very good care of her before I headed off to my new life and she'd remembered me right away when I came back home. "Ah, I remember. It's in spring, isn't it? I think I'll bring you an extra special horse treat that day to celebrate the occasion," I promised her.

"I'm sure she'll like that," I heard a familiar voice say from out of nowhere.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Akito strolling into the barn. I almost dropped the brush on the ground. And by that, I mean it slipped from my hand, but I caught it in mid-air.

I cleared my throat and struggled for composure even though I was so surprised to see him there. "Akito." I didn't even stutter on his name. Booyah! "Hey, what are you doing here in my neck of the woods?"

"Looking for you," he admitted easily as he stopped right next to me. He smelled like he took a bath in a washing machine and hung himself out on a clothes line to dry in the winter air. Fresh and crisp.

Before I knew it, he took the brush right out of my hand, his fingers grazing mine in the process, and started brushing the horse. Still, I kept my composure. "Really? What's up?" Then it dawned on me. "Oh yeah, did you come to wish me a happy birthday?"

He shot me a confused look before he said "Wait, it's your birthday?" When my eyebrows shot up and my mouth fell open a little, he started laughing. "I'm just joking, Vi. You're right. I came here because it's your birthday. Well, not that I need an excuse like that to come see you, but. . .Well, happy birthday."

"Thanks, Ki. I'm. . .I'm glad that you came to see me." I stood there watching him brush the horse with the same patience and care he applied to most everything else and I felt like I could have watched him all day.

He finished up quicker than I would have liked, though, and held the brush out to me. I was putting it away as he said "It's your birthday, Vi. You couldn't take one day off from work and. . .I don't know, pamper yourself?"

I laughed a little at that. "Pamper myself? How, Ki?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Do some sketching? Stuff yourself full of delicious food? Take the world's hottest bubble bath since you have an abnormally high tolerance for scalding hot water? Knowing you, you could probably do all three at the same time."

"That actually sounds delightful. I think I actually might do that later before I go to bed," I said kind of wistfully as I considered how I was going to keep my sketchbook dry and food crumbs out of my bathwater.

"You should. It's your birthday, Violet. I understand that you have this need to work yourself to the bone because you want to help your mom out so badly. Do something for yourself today, though, okay?"

"Geez, you always have me pegged so accurately," I mumbled.

Akito suddenly looked unaccountably nervous. "You know, I didn't just come to wish you a happy birthday," he told me, putting a hand in the pocket of his coat. "I. . ."

"Violet, your," my dad said as he entered the barn. He stopped short, though, when he spotted Akito next to me. He stood there looking at Akito as if he were weighing him on a scale and I had no idea what the numbers on this scale meant.

"Good morning, Mr. Drayton," Akito said politely as he crossed the barn and shook my father's hand.

"Good morning, Akito," dad said as he gave Akito's hand a firm shake, still giving him that look. "Did you come to wish my daughter a happy birthday?"

"Yes, sir. Actually, I also came because Willow sent me to escort her to what the girls have planned for her. In fact, I'm her designated personal escort for the entire day."

Behind Akito, I couldn't stop myself from grinning ear to ear. If it being my birthday meant I got to have Akito walk me everywhere then being a year older wasn't all that bad.

"Is that so?" my dad said as he shifted his emerald gaze over at me. I immediately schooled my features, but I was pretty sure he already saw that goofy grin.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea!" my mom said as she materialized out of nowhere. She immediately went over to Akito and gave him a kiss on each cheek and then ruffled his hair like I tended to do to Oliver. "It's so nice to see you over here, Akito."

"It's nice to be here, ma'am. I trust you're doing well today?"

"I am," she confirmed before she turned to my dad. "I just sent Cam here to tell Violet to get out of here and find something fun to do." She looked at me and said "Isn't it about time for you to go meet up with your friends?"

I stepped forward, next to Akito, and responded with "Yeah. I guess it's a good thing my personal escort is here. It's his job to take me to them."

"Right. We should go soon before Willow or Colby make sure I mysteriously go missing," Akito said as he held his arm out in offering to me. It was the same arm he'd always safeguarded from Courtney. It was _my_ arm. I accepted it.

Mom laughed at Akito's joke and smiled at dad in some strange kind of way. It looked kind of, I don't know, triumphant? "Don't forget to be back in time for dinner," mom reminded me again. "Have fun."

Akito nodded politely to my parents as we made our exit and I heard my dad reluctantly mumble something to my mom about Akito being a respectful young man.

I stopped about ten feet from the barn to say bye to some of the animals crowding around me. Akito watched with a little smile on his face. I guess it was refreshing for him to be around a woman who loved animals after spending all that time with Courtney.

When we made it to the end of the driveway and turned onto the main road, I hit him with "Am I starting to look old?"

To my amazement, _he_ actually stumbled instead of me. "Excuse me, what was that question?"

I repeated it. "Am I starting to look old?"

Other people might have laughed at my question. Jackson, I knew, certainly would have because he would have thought the question was just that silly. Akito, though, stopped walking and looked down at me with concern. "What is this about, Vi? Is it because you just turned," he started.

"Don't say it," I warned.

"Twenty-five?"

I groaned. "Yes." I let out a sigh as I looked up at him. "That's a petty, vain concern to have isn't it?

Akito shook his head with a frown. "It's not petty or vain. I think everybody comes to a point where they start worrying about things like that. It's just a part of getting older. When we're kids, that's the last thing on our minds. When we're adults, though, we start to value the things we took for granted back then. Like youth."

"Ah, youth. Come back to me."

"We're still young, though, Vi. It's really not something you should be worrying about for a while yet. In fact, it's not something you should really be worrying about at all. I'm positive you're going to age gracefully. In twenty years, you're going to look just like your mom does now."

"You really think so?" I asked, trying not to feel stupid that I was worrying about such things.

Akito nodded and started walking again. "I do. In twenty years or so we might have a few wrinkles between us and our hair will be sprinkled with gray. We'll be okay, though. If our parents can handle it then so can we."

I started laughing then and he shot me one of those questioning looks. "Sorry, it's just. . .Remember when you told me that Makoto was going to propose to Keiko? And I felt so young and. . .I don't know, immature in comparison?"

"Ah, irony," he said with a little smirk. "Yes, ma'am, I remember that. We were on the bridge."

I felt very pleased that he remembered exactly where we were when that conversation happened.

"I felt inadequately young then and here I am worrying that I'm getting old. Sometimes, there's just no pleasing me is there?"

Akito raised an eyebrow as he asked "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Well. . ."

Before I could say no, he told me "Sometimes we have trouble figuring things out. Sometimes we contradict ourselves. Sometimes we think one thing and then think another. Sometimes we don't know exactly what we want. So there are times when there really is no pleasing ourselves. Eventually, though, I think we get our heads where they need to be in order to figure out what we want."

I let what he said sink in before I asked him "Are we talking about me now or you?"

He looked a little surprised as he gave that some thought, as if he went somewhere he wasn't expecting to. With a shrug of one shoulder he told me "I guess we somehow ended up talking about me."

"So," I started as I watched him start to look a little nervous if that look off to the side indicated anything. "Since you brought it up. . .Now that Courtney is out of the picture. . ." ' _Thank the Harvest Goddess_ ,' I thought. "Do you know what you want, Ki?"

Akito came to a stop and extracted his arm from mine before turning to face me head-on and looked me dead in the eyes. "I do, Vi. The crazy thing is, I've known exactly what I want all along. I've just spent a ridiculous amount of time telling myself I can't have it."

His statement shocked me because it hit a little too close to home considering the war I constantly had going on inside of me. It also reminded me about a conversation we'd had in Buena Vista about something completely different than the topic at hand. Akito had said something very similar at the time, though, something about knowing what he wanted and having known it all along. "So what are you going to do?" I questioned, feeling strangely hot in the frigid winter weather.

He gave me that new smile again, the one he'd started wearing after Courtney left, before he said "I'm done with that negativity. I don't like it so I'm going to change it. How can I tell myself I can't have what I want if I don't at least try to get it? At that point, the only person stopping me is me. So I'm done stopping myself. I'm going after what I want."

For some reason I felt like the question I had stirring inside of me, while simple, was significant. "And what do you. . ."

"We're here," he interrupted me as he motioned toward the door of the cafe. I was shocked because the trip there seemed to pass by remarkably fast. I was also shocked by his abrupt change of subject when I felt that I was really on to something.

' _What do you want, Akito_?' I wondered as he escorted me inside the cafe and I had lunch with the girls.

' _What do you want, Akito_?' I wondered as I made it home in time to act surprised by the party I had suspected all along that my mom was going to throw.

' _What do you want, Akito_?' I wondered while I stared at the dark ceiling above my bed as sleep alluded me. ' _Because I know what_ I _want_. _And soon, I'm going to go after it, too_.'


	37. The Day Before

**Author's Note:** Let me know what you think of THIS. Bwahaha!

* * *

It was the morning of the day before Keiko and Makoto's wedding and things were already interesting. I'd been minding my own business not being nosy at all. Honestly, it was not my intention to witness anything. It was one of those situations where you walk into something and suddenly find yourself incapable of looking away.

Keiko had requested for Zhen to make a special gift for Makoto that she planned to give to him the night before the wedding. And by that I mean she would be sending it with somebody else since she believed it was bad luck for them to see each other so close to the wedding. Willow had been sent to retrieve it, but it had been two hours since anybody had heard from her and therefore, I had been sent to see what was up.

That was how I ended up in the doorway of Zhen's shop, the doors that they left wide open despite the frigid weather, witnessing a conversation I had known would be coming eventually, but I hadn't expected to actually see. It seemed as if Willow was taking the advice that Marissa had given her before she left town.

"I-I can't keep going on like this, Zhen," Willow said, her face red and splotchy as she stood there in front of him. As short as she was, she looked like she was about six feet tall thanks to the resolve I could see she felt. She wasn't a pretty crier like Colby was, but that was actually helping her look completely fierce in some strange kind of way in that moment.

"What are you talking about, Bubblegum?"

"Don't call me that," she snapped. I'd never known that he had a nickname for her. I supposed it was something he only called her in private considering nobody ever knew exactly what was going on in their relationship.

Zhen let out a weary sigh and slumped into a chair and she moved forward to loom over him with her hands planted on her hips.

Willow took a shaky breath before she said "I love you Zhen." His head snapped up, but before he could say anything she hurried on with "I love you, but I'm tired of all of this. I'm tired of this back and forth thing. One minute it seems like you want to be with me and the next minute you act like the age gap is too much."

"Will, I do want to be with you. It's just. . ."

She held up one hand and he immediately trailed off. "You see? It's that indecision right there that I can't take anymore. You have to make up your mind. Either you want to be with me or you don't. Either you want to commit to being a relationship or you'll let me go because I'm done with this hot and cold situation."

"I'm not trying to be hot and cold with you. I'm not that kind of a man, Willow."

She let out a weary sigh of her own. "I know, Zhen. I know exactly what kind of man you are and I think you're perfect. I know you're not actually perfect, but you're perfect for me. And I'm perfect for you. You know, people in our kind of situation get together all of the time. Do you know how many women out there get involved with older men? There are women who are twenty and marry men who are seventy, you know! Of course, women like that are usually gold diggers."

She paused and he paused and they stared at each other awkwardly for a moment as the last part of her speech sank in. "Uh. . ."

She forged on, though, flaming face of embarrassment and all. "You're not seventy. You're not rich. I'm not a gold digger. What's going on between us is nowhere near as scandalous as you have made it out to be in your head. I'm not a child."

He stood up and started pacing as he seemed to resist the urge to tug at his hair out of frustration. That was a wise decision since he looked like he was close to pulling some of those strands out. "I'm fully aware that you're not a child!"

"Are you?!" she practically yelled. "I might be younger than you. I might be as short as a twelve year old. I might even be immature at times, but I'm a woman. I'm a woman, Zhen. Do you need me to spell it out for you? W. O. M. A. N. And if you can't treat me like one then I guess this has all been a waste of our time. I always thought that if I just kept at it long enough then I could break down those walls and you would realize that we're meant to be, but. . .I don't know." Her voice finally dropped and she wrapped her arms around herself as if she needed something, anything, to hold onto. "Maybe I was wrong this whole time. Maybe we aren't right for each other. That's it. We _aren't_ right for each other." She looked at him with what might have been the most heartbreaking expression I had ever seen cross her face in all the time I had known her, which was a long time. "We really aren't right for each other," she whispered.

I could see the tears falling from her eyes as she turned away from him and started heading toward the door. I was just beginning to panic as I tried to figure out where I was going to hide when Zhen reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Willow, please wait. Please," he begged of her as she stopped in her tracks.

With a sigh, she turned around and looked up at him. "What do you want, Zhen?"

' _What do you want, Akito_?' That phantom question from the other day haunted me.

"I want you, Willow, I do. I want to be with you. You're right. You're. . .you're completely right."

Her mouth dropped open a little. "I-I am? I mean yes I am, but. . .I am?"

"Look, I. . .I don't want to lose you. You're right. You're not a child. You're a smart, thoughtful, beautiful young woman and I've been a fool. If I have to choose between being with you or losing you then I'd be an idiot to choose to let you go."

She was quiet for a few moments before she asked "You want to be with me? For real, now? Like. . .a real relationship?" She sounded equal parts hopeful and cautious.

He kissed her then and I wasn't sure if I should put my hands over my eyes or look away. Actually, I should probably walk away because I was kind invading their privacy.

"I love you, too, Bubblegum. Stay with me?" he requested somewhat pleadingly once they came up for air.

"Yes!" she enthused immediately. "No. I mean yes, but no. Yes, I'll stay with you, but I have to leave for now. I completely forgot that I came here to get that present Keiko wants to give Makoto! She's been waiting all this time."

And that was my cue. I backed away and quickly looked for somewhere to hide so that they didn't see me peeping at them like a total creeper. I quickly settled on hiding behind the sign of his shop. About two seconds after I tucked myself into a small and inconspicuous ball one of the doors opened. I heard another kiss, some quiet words, and then the door shut. I peeked out from behind the sign just enough to see Willow's long pink hair billowing behind her as she took off toward the seed shop. Yes, I felt completely awkward that I had inadvertently witnessed that whole entire scene. Still, though, I felt very happy for Willow since she was finally getting what she wanted from Zhen.

I spent the bulk of my afternoon putting up the decorations I'd slaved over for weeks. This wasn't something that I did alone. I recruited people from the wedding party to help me as well as a few of the older children of the towns. Jackson was one of the people who I had helping me and I had an interesting conversation with him while we worked.

"It was great, Vi. Sometimes I just get so lost in my music. It's like I zone out of the real world and I'm completely tuned in to a world that's all my own. You know the feeling, right?" He was keeping the ladder I was currently on steady so I didn't do something totally clumsy like fall. Come to think of it, why was I up on that ladder? I wasn't sick like that day in Konohana, but I was still Clara Klutz, an accident waiting to happen.

"Yeah," I confirmed as I adjusted a snowflake so it was dangling just right. I very carefully climbed down from the ladder and looked over at Jackson. "I get completely caught up in my art sometimes."

"I'll say. You must have really been in the zone to get all of these decorations done!"

"I had help. Sometimes," I told him as I moved on to the next task. Keiko had wanted to be one of the people helping out, but I told her I didn't want her seeing the decorations until the wedding. The overall result of my work was supposed to be a surprise for her and Makoto, although I had let _him_ help me a time or two.

He took the ladder and put it against a wall. When he came back he said "I wish I'd been here to help you do some of that. It's just. . ."

Jackson had left town because he had some important gigs to play. Another part of the reason he left, though, was because of our breakup and I'd be foolish not to realize that. "Well you're here now. That's what's important," I assured him.

With a sigh, Jack seemed to decide to let himself off the hook. "Yeah, well, I can't wait to go out on the next set of performances. It's just, I get to go to cool places and see cool things and I love making music, but sometimes it feels kind of empty because everybody I care about is back home."

As he said that I caught a glimpse of Colby across the room. That was when something seemed to click into place in my head. Colby had always wanted to get away from the two towns and get out in the world to see new things, if only for a little while. Hadn't she told me something like that not too long ago? And after her breakup with Ignacio, Colby definitely needed a breather. A change of scenery and pace would do her some good. Besides that, being around a guy like Jackson who was the opposite of pond scum would do her a world of good as well. I was positive that I had just figured out a solution that would benefit the both of them.

"Jackson," I said as I watched him smooth down a table cloth.

"Hmm? What's up?" he asked. He gave me a smile that was just enough to reveal that dimple I adored, the one that I had never noticed until I finally started to look at him a little more closely. I couldn't unsee the man that I had finally noticed. I would always see him a little differently from how I'd seen him most of my life. That was okay, though. Different isn't a word that always has to carry a negative connotation.

"I believe I have an idea that will help you out."

Later on, when evening came around, I had finally finished putting up all the decorations and was having a good time with the girls at the seed shop. It was kind of a bachelorette party, but all we were doing was chatting and perhaps enjoying something in our glasses that wasn't appropriate for children to drink. If Marissa were there she would probably call us boring and insist that we had to do something completely inappropriate just to shake things up.

"So there I was getting ready to leave when Zhen grabbed my arm to stop me. He finally said he wants to be with me! He told me that I was right about everything. Oh, and he even said he loves me!" Her voice dropped down a little and sounded breathy with absolute wonder as she said "He finally admitted that he loves me."

"I'm so happy for you, Willow!" Keiko said as she gently squeezed her maid of honor's hand. Willow had already told Keiko the story earlier when she finally delivered Makoto's present. Now she was telling it all over again for mine and Colby's benefit. Of course, I already knew what happened, but I wasn't about to tell her that.

"I just feel so happy!" she told us with a giddy laugh. I wasn't sure if her fantastic mood was a result of finally landing her man, the wine in her glass, or both. It was probably both.

"Oh, oh! I have news of my own," Colby declared as she practically slammed her glass down on the table. I was surprised that she didn't break the stem of it. She was talking to all of us, but she looked straight at me as she said "Jackson came over to my house earlier."

"Jackson?" Keiko asked.

"As in Violet's cousin who was her boyfriend who is now her cousin again? That Jackson?" Willow threw in.

"Keep it up and I'll ask the Harvest Goddess to block that tunnel again," I sent out as an empty threat that everybody knew I would never make good on.

"Anyway, he told me he's going back out of town soon because of his music. He wants someone from home to go with him to keep him company and he asked me!"

I beamed at Colby from across the table. Jackson had actually extended the offer! I'd made the suggestion to him earlier and he'd thought it was a good idea, but he hadn't told me whether or not he was going to act on it.

"Splendid!" Willow said enthusiastically as she clapped as fast as a hummingbird's wings. Okay, now I was sure that the wine was definitely going to her head. It would probably be best if we cut her off soon so that she wouldn't be feeling too sick to attend to Keiko on her big day.

Keiko let out a happy little sigh. "That sounds lovely. You be sure to write us with details of every place you visit!"

"Hey, that's great, Col! Haven't you always wanted to do more traveling outside the towns? Now you're getting your chance."

She sent me one of those looks that suggested I wasn't fooling her. Jackson had probably told her it was my idea, now that I thought about it. That would certainly explain the look on her face. My suspicions were confirmed about five minutes later when she pulled me aside for a more private conversation.

"You put Jackson up to it," she stated as I leaned against the kitchen counter with my glass in my hand.

I took another drink before I answered with "Well yeah, but I just thought that you'd. . ."

I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence because Colby wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tight. The contents of my glass were sloshing around from me being jostled, but nothing spilled out.

"Thank you, Vi. I probably wouldn't have thought to ask something like that of Jackson, but you did. And now I get to go out there and see new things."

"Y-Y-You're welcome," I said as I struggled for breath but didn't complain.

"I'm cutting off your air supply, aren't I?"

"A little bit, yeah," I confirmed right before she released me. I took in a few deep breaths before I said "I really am happy for you, Colby. You're going to have so much fun and Jack is going to look out for you out there. I mean, I know that you can handle yourself, but regardless I know he's going to have your back."

She took a deep breath of her own. "I know he will. Jackson is a great guy. He's nothing like. . ." She couldn't bring herself to say Ignacio's name, but I knew she was referring to him.

Keiko's original plan was to have Willow, her maid of honor, deliver her gift to Makoto for her. Once we had cut Willow off from the wine, however, she quickly fell asleep with her cheek pressed against the top of the table next to the tray of food we'd demolished. I volunteered to go instead, despite being a bit tipsy myself. I felt guilty for witnessing Willow's private conversation with Zhen earlier so it was the least I could do. Especially since I certainly didn't want to go out into the cold otherwise!

So that was what brought me to don my cold weather gear and step outside into the freezing night air. ' _Spring is almost here. Spring is almost here_ ,' I chanted in my head like a mantra, helping me hang on to my sanity during these cold times.

Konohana was silent, white, and bathed in moonlight. It really was a winter wonderland and the wedding was going to reflect that. I may have made the decorations and acted as the liason for my dad, but Willow really had been the driving force behind making sure that everything came together just right. The winter wonderland theme, after all, was her idea in the first place.

I tried not to trip over my own feet even though my head was feeling a bit fuzzy from the wine. I had just made it past the request board when I heard him say my name. "Violet?" His voice floated to me on the scant night breeze, as familiar to my ears as my own.

"Akito." I looked to my left and sure enough, there he was. He had his hands in his pockets and while he wasn't as bundled up as I was, he definitely didn't look cold. Perhaps that was because inside, Akito was just one of the warmest people I had ever met. Maybe for him that figurative warmth actually translated into the literal. "What are you doing out and about?"

With his good-natured smile in place, he told me "I could ask you the same thing. What's up?"

I pulled the nicely wrapped gift out of my pocket and held it up so he could see it. "Keiko got a gift for Makoto that she wanted him to have the night before the wedding. I was just on my way to take it to him."

He laughed a little and shook his head. "Great minds think alike, I guess. Makoto sent me to take something to Keiko." He pulled a small box out of his pocket as well.

"Well I'll be. How should we do this? Should we exchange their gifts since we're both so conveniently right here?" I was making a concentrated effort not to slur my words.

Akito closed the distance between us while he talked. "We can. I'm on my way to dad's shop to grab something before I head back. Do you want to come with me, or do they need you back right away?"

It took me about half a second to formulate the answer to that question. "I don't think they'll miss me for a while yet." I reached out for the arm that I didn't even have to look to know he was already offering.

There I was, out for a moonlit stroll with Akito. It was probably a good thing that I was holding onto him since I was already clumsy enough as it was without my head feeling all fuzzy. He held the door open for me when we got to his family's shop and I hurried inside, rubbing my gloved hands together while I tried to reclaim some of the heat that the elements had sapped from me. When that didn't work I started breathing on them.

"You and cold weather truly don't mix," he commented as he took off his coat and hung it up. He kept his scarf on, but tucked his gloves away in one of his pockets. "How about we hang out here for a little while and get you warmed up again before we head out?"

"Oh, I am so behind that plan," I assured him as I let him help me out of the thick, bulky coat I had on. I handed him my scarf, too, and did the same as he did when it came to my gloves.

I took the time to greet mini Delilah and saw Akito send me an approving grin. All the animals in the shop, including the puppy he planned on giving our goddaughter, were fast asleep for the night so it was quiet.

Akito motioned toward the table and said "Have a seat, Vi."

"Don't mind if I do," I told him as I lowered myself onto the cushion on what had at some point become my side of this table. Akito draped a warm, soft blanket across my shoulders. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Hey, do you want something to drink?" he asked, in gracious host mode.

"This smells like you," I commented kind of absentmindedly as I breathed in a face-full of the blanket. "You smell great, Ki." A happy sigh escaped me.

"Wait, what?"

I realized I'd forgotten to take off my earmuffs and I proceeded to spin them around my finger after I did. I spun them so fast that they flew off my finger and went flying across the room. "Oops."

Akito raised an eyebrow as he retrieved my earmuffs and sat them on the table. I made the split second decision, for some mysterious reason, to put my hand over his. I stared down at his hand, that strong and reliable hand, as I ran my thumb across his knuckles. Akito stiffened and I could have sworn I heard a sharp intake of breath before I slid the earmuffs out from under his hand and pulled them over to me.

Akito was silent for a few moments before he said "Water. I think you need some water. Keeping you hydrated will help you bounce back in the morning from whatever it is you've been drinking."

I turned around on that cushion and leaned back against the table with my elbows propping me up. I watched him as he went about the process of getting me water. He was thoughtful, so thoughtful! He was thoughtful and kind. He was patient and caring. He was smart and funny. He was gentle and hardworking. He showed animals the same consideration and courtesy as he would a person and he valued life in all forms. And he was totally unaware that he was loved so completely and unerringly by. . .me.

"Hey, where did your mind just go?" he asked me as he turned around and approached me with a full glass of water. Akito sat it down on the table and then gently turned me around so I was facing it. He put the blanket back across my shoulders and I didn't even remember when it had fallen off.

I put my elbow on the table and rested the side of my head in my left hand. "Straight to you, of course," I mumbled.

"What was that?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as he struggled to hear.

"Nowhere," I spoke, louder this time.

Akito sat down across from me and nodded toward the water. "Drink up, Vi." When I frowned down at the water he said "Please? For me?"

I stared at him from across the table and thought about how I'd probably do just about anything for him and all he had to do was ask. That was a dangerous amount of power for one person to have over another and he had no idea he was even wielding it. The thing about Akito, though, was I knew he would never, ever use that kind of sway as a weapon. Somebody like Ignacio or Courtney would have, but never Akito. He was better than that. He was good, so good. I carefully picked up the glass and drained it. When I sat it back down on the table I let out another sigh. How in the world was it possible for one person to have so much love locked up inside of them and not just. . .explode from it? Like. . .how in the world was I not scattered across this room in a billion pieces because all that love just came shooting out and my body couldn't survive its escape?

"And you didn't hear a word of what I just said, did you?" Akito asked with a look that was half amused and half concerned on his face. It was there in the slight upturn of his lips and the furrowing of his eyebrows.

"Hmm? What was that?" I asked as I rested my head against my hand again while I gazed at him.

He was saying something to me and I knew I should be listening to whatever it was, but my head was still fuzzy and there was a thought that was fighting for my attention as my eyes slipped down to his lips. How many times had I looked at those lips? I had them memorized in my mind so well that I had drawn their exact shape before in sketches I'd made of him. And yet, I still didn't know if they were as soft I imagined them to be.

The blanket dropped from my shoulders again and the empty glass rolled onto the floor as I climbed up onto the table. And I had completely lost track of my earmuffs. It was a small table so I didn't have far to go as I crawled over to Akito's side of it. He looked at me with confusion and shock as I sat back on my legs and found myself just a little above eye level with him.

"V-Vi, hey, what are you. . .?"

He fell silent as I pressed my thumb against his bottom lip and I felt his breath cease. I turned my head from one side to the other as I concentrated on his lips, tracing a path across them and marveled at how sometimes one's imagination could get something correct. They were soft.

Akito finally took a deep, shuddering breath and my eyes started moving up. I saw those freckles of his that I had always found absolutely adorable, crossing his nose and journeying toward his cheeks. I saw that his bangs had fallen into his left eye and I smoothed them back into place so I could gaze into those intense golden beacons. His eyes looked confused and pained and there were questions there, so many questions. I had a question of my own raging inside.

' _What do you want, Akito? Because the one thing I've always wanted most of all is. . .you_.'

For half of my life I'd been madly in love with this man and I'd been dreaming of kissing him for so long. Why had more than a decade passed and I hadn't kissed him?! In the back of my mind I knew there was a reason for this. The sane, rational Violet somewhere inside of me was yelling it at me at that very moment, but I was selectively tuning her out. That Violet didn't know what she was talking about. Akito was right in front of me, so close, but not close enough. Why hadn't I kissed him before? What was stopping me from kissing him now? The answer was. . .nothing. Absolutely nothing. My heart was going boom-clap boom-clap boom-clap in rapid succession as I put my hands on the sides of his face.

"Violet." Akito's voice was thick and slightly raspy as he softly asked "W-What are you doing?"

My gaze slipped back down to his lips again as I answered with "This." And then I lowered my lips over his.

A few things happened at once. Akito's lips responded to mine instantly and urgently, hungrily, almost as if they'd been waiting for this as long as mine had. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me to him, so close that I could feel the frantic beat of his heart and if I didn't know any better I'd say he had a case of boom-clap boom-clap boom-clap all his own.. My fingers were suddenly in his hair, the silky tresses flowing over them like water. So much softness had come from such a rugged and strong man. Soft knuckles, soft lips, soft hair. But this kiss, it was anything but soft, and I absolutely did not mind. I wanted more. More, more, more. I wanted to kiss him until I didn't know what my own name was anymore, until he couldn't remember his. I had spent so many years keeping my emotions in check and all those things I had never been able to bring myself to say were pouring out without even one single word being said.

This was what had been missing when Jackson and I had kissed. This! This. . .instantaneous combustion of feeling that was consuming me, mind, body, and soul! This . .chemistry that was so palpable that I could probably reach out and touch it! This. . .undeniable sense rightness as if balance had finally been achieved in the world and all was as it should be! Jackson and I had kissed one, two, three times and in a million years it couldn't have come anywhere close to _this_.

That rational, sane Violet was nagging at me somewhere in my mind again and her voice kept growing louder and louder. And try as I may, I couldn't shut her up this time.

' _This is wrong_!' she was yelling at me.

' _No_ ,' I argued. ' _This is right. It's finally right_!'

' _He just broke up with Courtney_ ,' she chastised. ' _He's vulnerable. It's too soon!_ '

' _Too soon_.'

Right. That voice in my head was right. Hadn't I decided to let more time pass after Akito's breakup and then think about telling him how I felt? Hadn't I not wanted to be his rebound? Hadn't I not wanted to turn him into _my_ rebound after Jackson?! And yet here I was, nearly in the man's lap, kissing him! Rational thought was rapidly taking over. I broke the kiss then, looking like a frightened deer in the headlights as my eyes met his. My breathing was shallow and choppy and I felt like I wasn't getting enough air in. Wait, was I hyperventilating?!

Akito cleared his throat once, twice, and looked at me with such tender care and concern that I felt my heart break in that moment. I had basically just thrown myself at and taken advantage of the man and he was actually worrying about me! "V-Vi. Are you okay? Did I. . ." He trailed off as a tear slipped down my cheek, quickly followed by another and another. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Violet, I don't understand. . ." he said, sounding like he was trying not to panic for my sake.

"I'm sorry," I cut him off quietly, clenching my hands in my lap and watching as my tears hit them. Plop, plop, plop.

"What are you. . ." he started. I didn't let him finish before I jumped up and climbed off the table. "Vi, wait!"

"I'm so sorry, Akito!" I choked out as I sprinted from the room. I made it to the front door and didn't even bother with grabbing my jacket or my scarf. I ran out the door and I kept on running.


	38. The Morning Of

The next morning I woke up feeling groggy, confused, and strangely drained. It was like I was a battery that had lost its charge and gotten so low that the device had stopped functioning. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and stared up at my ceiling. There was something I was forgetting. It was something important. And I knew, just _knew_ that whatever it was, it was something that I'd probably be better off not remembering at the moment. But of course, the more awake I became the more that the peace of obliviousness wore off. The moment I remembered, I shot up straight in my bed.

"Oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, _oh no_!"

I buried my face in my hands as all of the pieces fell into place. The night before I had been at Keiko's bachelorette party. The night had started off innocent enough. We'd chatted. We'd scarfed down food. We'd had a little wine. I'd gone out to deliver Keiko's gift to Makoto when I ran into Akito.

' _Akito. No, no, no, no, no_!'

I'd gone back to his place with him while he went to pick up whatever it was he'd come out to get aside from delivering Makoto's gift to Keiko. I'd downed a glass of water and then. . .then. . .

"I didn't! I. . .Oh man, _I did_!" I threw myself back against my bed and pulled the covers over my head. I'd. . .I'd kissed Akito! I'd actually crawled across a table just to get to him. _I'd crawled across a table_! Who did that?! Me, apparently, but really, who did that?!

I could remember making my way across the table as I wondered about the softness of Akito's lips. I could remember the way they'd felt under the brush of my thumb. I could still see the confusion in Akito's eyes as he asked me what I was doing. And I definitely remembered my answer.

I turned over and pressed my face against my pillow as I let out a mortified scream. Once my dramatic moment was over I stayed that way for a few minutes not caring if I was depriving my body of air. When I couldn't take that anymore, I turned back over and stared at the ceiling once more. Yes, I certainly remembered my answer.

' _This_.'

And then I'd kissed him. I'd kissed Akito. I had. . .kissed Akito. _Akito_. I pressed my fingers against my lips and let out a little groan. I could still feel it, how his lips had felt against mine. I could feel how soft his hair was under my fingers. I could remember what it was like with his arms around me and being pulled close. That kiss had been wonderful. Wait, no, it had been _magical_. Yes, that's a corny thing to say but I will remind you once again that I'm a fan of corny, cliche, and even cheesy. But. . .wow. That had been, hands down, the best kiss of my life. It was the one I had been waiting for since that day I'd fallen on the ice and had thought I would never get. This kiss, though, this wonderful and magical kiss hadn't been handed to me, no. I'd taken it. I'd crawled across a table and stolen it like a thief in the night!

He'd reciprocated that kiss, yes. I had certainly felt something on the other end. It's not like he just sat there motionless while my lips moved against his stationary ones. That was probably just a. . .like a. . .reflex reaction or something. He kissed me on reflex, almost like he couldn't help himself and his lips had a mind of their own. His arms must have had a mind of their own, too, when he wrapped them around me. That was it. Reflex. He hadn't asked for it, I'd swooped in like the early bird going after the worm and snatched it.

And now I would have to move away because I was pretty sure I could never, ever face Akito again. I could. . .move back to the city. That's right! Marissa would be thrilled for me to move back. Then, _maybe_ in ten years once the motification died down just a little, I could move back home and pretend I had amnesia and didn't remember a thing that had happened. Yeah! I hit my head while in the city and got amnesia and that one specific event was blacked out totally and completely. And. . .

' _I'm being ridiculous_ ,' I thought as I rubbed my hands down my face. ' _Ugh_!'

I was. I was being ridiculous. I couldn't move away and I couldn't pretend that nothing ever happened. That kiss had happened and sooner or later I was going to have to face Akito. And I just then realized that it would be sooner rather than later considering it was the day of Keiko and Makoto's wedding. Our paths would undoubtedly cross and I wasn't ready for that!

"Wait. . ." I mumbled as I slowly sat back up and my eyebrows drew together from my level of concentration. There was something I was forgetting. It was something about Keiko. . .

I thought back to the previous night after the kiss. I hadn't wanted to go back to Keiko's. If I did then my friends would know something was wrong. They would be all over me like white on rice wanting to know what had happened and Colby wouldn't rest until she got the whole story out of me. Even Willow, who had been asleep, would conveniently wake up and hound me about it and at the moment I hadn't felt prepared to deal with all that. I. . .I just couldn't. So after running out on Akito, without my jacket and scarf, I'd ran toward the tunnel and didn't stop until I was all the way back home. I ended up taking what had to be the most miserable bath in the history of baths and then promptly went to bed and. . .

I'd left Konohana without handing over the gift Keiko had sent for Makoto! I'd left without getting the gift Makoto had sent with Akito for Keiko!

"Oh man, I'm like. . .the worst friend ever!" I hissed at myself as I pushed the covers back and threw my legs over the bed. Now not only would I have to face Akito, but I'd have to face Keiko and Makoto knowing that I'd totally botched their gift exchange.

I quickly made my bed up, got dressed for the day, and left my bedroom. I was in desperate need for a cup of coffee and if I didn't get one within the next five minutes then I would just continue on with a dramatic inner monologue because the world sure wouldn't come to an end because of it. When I entered the kitchen I saw my mom finishing up the dishes from breakfast. My dad was probably out taking care of last minute flower arrangements for the wedding and Oliver was most likely helping him. I went over to the coffee pot and saw that there was still some coffee in there and it was hot because she hadn't turned it off yet.

' _Score_ ,' I thought as I grabbed a cup and went about fixing myself a cup of coffee.

Mom heard me, glanced over, and just about jumped out of her skin.

"Violet Clara Drayton! You just about scared the life out of me!" She had a soapy hand pressed against her chest.

"I'm sorry mom," I said with a sigh as I took my cup and sat down at the table. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just really needed some coffee."

"Uh-oh. I know that tone," she said as she took the plug out to drain the sink and then rinsed her hands off. She dried them on a hand towel before sitting down, too, and grabbing the cup of coffee she was currently drinking. "What are you even doing here, sweetie? I thought you were supposed to be spending the night at Keiko's. If I had known you were home I would have called you for breakfast, although it really isn't like you to sleep in so late that you miss it in the first place. You're not sick again, are you?"

I looked down at the watch I hadn't taken off the previous night before climbing into bed and saw that it was seven o'clock. It wasn't late in the day or anything, but it was definitely past the normal time that I tended to wake up. "No, not physically," I told her, sounding infinitely weary.

She stared at me over the top of the cup she was currently drinking from. When she sat the cup down she said "Something's clearly going on, Violet, so why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

I drained half my cup before I sat it aside and looked down at the table. "I can't, mom. I'm just. . .ugh. I just don't even know what I'm going to do."

I fell silent for a little while and when she finally got tired of that she picked up her cup and sat down in the chair right next to mine. "Violet, sweetheart. I know you're a grown woman. You've been out in the world and you've lived life and dealt with problems without your parents having to hold your hand. Maybe _I_ need to hold your hand sometimes, though. Maybe as your mother I have a need to hear out your problems even if you don't always need me there to listen. There were so many times when I wished my mother was there to listen so I always want to be there to do it for you and your brother."

Of course I knew she was there to listen. She always had been and she always would be. She was the best listener. She'd sat there patiently and let me tell her the whole sordid tale about my breakup with Jackson after I had that massive sloppy feast. My eyes finally stopped being glued to the table. I looked up at her and winced. "And I'm happy I have you to listen to me, mom. That's one of the best parts of being back home. It's just. . .I'm so _ashamed_!"

She raised an eyebrow as she said "Surely it can't be that bad, Vi."

I met her eyes, so similar to my own, and felt myself blurting it out. "I kissed Akito!"

Mom sat there silent for a full minute staring at me. Finally, she blinked once. She blinked twice. And then she turned her head slightly to the right as she said "Well, it's about time."

My mouth fell open a little as I sat there looking at my mom in confusion. Did she seriously just say that? "Wait. . .what? I don't think I heard you right, mom. Could you repeat that?"

"It's about time!" she repeated with an amused smile. "I was starting to think that you would never take my covert advice! I also considered that maybe you were having trouble reading between the lines and didn't know what I was urging you to do, but apparently you did. So what did Akito say when you told him that you've always been in love with him? Oh, I can't believe this day has finally come at last!"

"H-H-How did you know about my feelings for Akito?!" I tried not to screech as I jumped out of my seat and started pacing around.

Her face scrunched up a little bit as she thought about that. "Hmm. Let's see. . .Probably when you were around thirteen, perhaps? You started looking at him the same way your father looks at tom yum goong on his birthday."

"Mom!" I gasped, not sure how to take her basically saying that I'd always looked at him like he was something delicious to eat.

"When you got together with Jackson, I was surprised. I wanted to support you, though, if being with him was what you wanted. And seeing as Akito was with Courtney at the time I figured eventually things would work themselves out. And it seems they did. You never told me, how did he take it when you told him?"

I slumped back down in my chair and drained the rest of my coffee, feeling like I needed that burst of caffeine to draw on some additional strength from. "I-I didn't," I admitted quietly.

"But I thought you said. . ."

"I kissed him, yes. But I didn't admit my feelings for him, mom. That's why I'm ashamed. I. . .I just up and kissed him. He just broke up with Courtney and here I am preying upon him like a black widow or something! And sure, I was tipsy at the time but that's no excuse. There is _no_ excuse."

"Violet," she said patiently. "You're not a black widow and you didn't prey upon him. When you kissed him, did he push you away?"

"No," I mumbled.

"Did he kiss you back?" mom hedged.

"Yes, but you kissed Kana back that time he kissed you, right? Even though you weren't in love with him?"

"I should have known I was going to regret telling you that story," she told me with an exasperated sigh. "I also ultimately broke the kiss and sent him away."

"Well, Akito is too much of a gentleman to have embarrassed me like that," I insisted.

"Oh Violet," she said softly with a shake of her head. "You didn't prey upon him, okay? The two of you need to have a talk about what happened."

"Oh no. No, no, no. That's a conversation that can never, ever happen."

"He lives in Konohana, Violet. You live in Bluebell. What are you going to do, avoid him for the rest of your life?"

Something suddenly came to me then. It was a memory of a conversation I'd had with Akito soon after we returned home. I'd been on my way to the tunnel on Spring Harmony when I'd heard his voice calling my name.

" _Violet!"_

 _I instantly recognized the voice and I felt conflicted. Akito._

 _'Maybe he doesn't see me yet and is just calling out my name and I can just hurry through the tunnel. . .But I do want to see him, you know, it's just. . . Then again, it's probably for the best if I. . .' I thought as I hesitated in front of the tunnel._

" _Are you going to turn around or am I going to have to stare at your back all day?" he asked with some amusement in his voice._

 _Well he'd obviously spotted me. It would be rude to leave him hanging. I turned around and there he was, standing in the middle of the road with his hands in his pockets. The end of his ponytail was trailing over his shoulder and onto his chest, the light catching those auburn strands and glinting off them. As I walked up to him I noticed that he smelled like laundry detergent, just as he always had. You know, the kind that makes you want to hold a shirt up to your nose and sniff. . ._

" _Sorry," I told him as I stood there trying not to be awkward. It was incredibly frustrating. I never use to be awkward around Akito. Well, perhaps I was a little awkward during the time immediately following when I realized how I felt about him. . .I got over that, though, that awkwardness. It had always been so easy being friends with him and now things felt so weird. And it was me, I knew it was me. It's just. . . "What's up?"_

" _Did I do something, Vi?" he asked, cutting right to the chase and catching me off guard._

" _Wait, what?"_

" _If I didn't know any better, Violet, then I'd think you've been avoiding me," he told me then, peering down at me as if he could see right through me. "Like the plague," he added. I should have known he could sense the awkwardness. I was actually surprised it took him this long to call me out on it._

 _I've never pretended that I don't occasionally tell lies so I hit him with "I haven't been avoiding you. I've just been busy readjusting and helping my mom. I've been taking on a lot of requests, too." Most of that was the truth, you know._

" _So I haven't done anything?" he tried to clarify, bringing us back to his original question._

 _'No,' I thought as I bit at my bottom lip. 'You did nothing aside from innocently turning back up in my life and reigniting a whirlwind of unresolved emotions. It's not like you could help that.' And just like that, I felt bad. Akito had been my friend since we were in diapers and I'd hurt him by making myself as scarce as possible. It wasn't his fault that I was having a hard time working through my feelings. He didn't deserve that. I made the decision right then and there to do better, for Akito._

" _Of course not, Ki. Look, I'm sorry you got the impression I was avoiding you. If it'll make you feel any better, I'll make a conscious effort to stalk you from now on. I'm serious. From now on, I'll be hiding behind trees and buildings watching you and then I'll jump out and harass you when the time is right. I'll stare at you through windows and I'll fog up the glass and draw pictures to get your attention. You'll never have peace ever again."_

 _He stood there for a total of four seconds before bursting out in laughter. "Ah, I've missed this," he told me as he tried to contain his amusement. He failed. "Nobody makes me laugh like you do, you know that?"_

 _I reached out and cautiously placed my hand on his shoulder. Lightning didn't strike me where I stood. The world didn't stop spinning. And just like that, I felt most of the awkwardness melt away. Akito was Akito, just as he always had been. And I was Violet. He was my friend. And friends didn't act the way I had been._

" _I'm glad to hear it. I'll be sure to tell you a joke while I'm hiding behind your curtains."_

I frowned as the memory faded. That's right. I had made things completely awkward between us just by the way I was acting. And I had been avoiding him, which had hurt Akito's feelings and prompted him to confront me. Hadn't I decided that I wouldn't do that again after that conversation, that I wouldn't go back to avoiding Akito again? And yet. . .how could I face him with the way I was feeling at the moment?

I propped my forehead in my hands and tugged at my hair while I stared down at the table. I needed a little time to come to terms with what was going on, right? Couldn't I take at least a day? Couldn't I just. . .focus on Keiko and Makoto's big day and then think about talking to Akito tomorrow? It was _their_ day, after all. I could somehow find the strength to face Akito and. . .I don't know, pretend that nothing happened for the sake of getting through the day and then the next day the chips could start to fall wherever they were going to. Even if there was a whirpool of emotions inside of me threatening to suck me down to the darkest depths of the ocean. . .

' _When did I become such an emotional drama queen_?' I questioned myself as I sat there thinking this all through. I'd become so deep in thought that I'd almost forgotten my mom was even in the room, much less sitting at the table with me.

"Violet, listen, it's going to be fine. It's all going to work out," she assured me, snapping my attention back to her.

"How can you be so sure of that?" I asked her, desperately wishing that I could be as certain as she was.

"I just have one more question for you," she began. "Whenever you see Akito, what do you feel? I mean. . .what does your heart do?"

I frowned as I thought about her question. What did my heart do? It. . . "Whenever I see Akito, my heart always does this. . .this. . .boom-clap thing. It's always only ever happened around him," I confessed, feeling a little silly to be saying it out loud.

She smiled at me knowingly before she said "Let me tell you another one of my stories. It's about the day I met Cam. I was living in Konohana back then and I was visiting Bluebell for the first time. The town was beautiful, let me tell you! You know it's beautiful, of course, but imagine what it looks like through the eyes of a person who has never seen it before. I instantly fell in love with it. When I made it to the town square, though, I looked over and saw the flower shop. And there was a man standing there behind that table. It was kind of a surreal moment, Violet. There he was and he was being. . .bathed in sunlight. It was like the heavens opened up and singled him out for me to see at that exact moment. It's like the Harvest Goddess sent that sun beam and said 'Here he is.' And when I saw him my heart went. . .boom-clap."

"Boom-clap?!" I asked, having a hard time believing my ears.

"Boom-clap. And what do you know? It turns out he was the one. So you see, that's why I know it's all going to work out for you, Violet. Because it all worked out for me. There were times when it seemed like it wouldn't, but it did." She raised a finger and poked it against my chest, right where my heart was. "It's good to think, but sometimes your brain makes things more complicated than necessary and gets in the way. Sometimes all you really need to do is listen to your heart. It's been telling you something, Vi. All you need to do is trust in its message."

I was just getting ready to reply to that when I heard knocking on the front door.

"I'll get it, mom," I told her as I stood up. She took my hand in hers and patted it. I squeezed hers in response before I went to see who was at the door.

"There you are!" Colby said as she strolled into the house as quickly as she could so I could close the door against the cold air drifting inside. "Are you feeling better?"

"W-What?" Was I feeling better? What was she talking about?

She took off her gloves and put her hands on either side of my face before turning my head to one side and then the other. "You look like you feel fine. That's a relief. Akito came over to the seed shop and he told us."

Panic suddenly flooded through me. What, exactly did Akito tell them?! I mean, they were my closest friends and I would most likely tell them about what happened in the near future, but that didn't mean that I wanted them to know at the moment!

"What did he tell you, exactly?" I asked her, trying not to sound as flustered as I was feeling.

She narrowed her eyes a little, probably because she knew something was off about me and didn't know what it was. "He told us that he ran into you on your way to give that gift to Makoto. He said that you weren't feeling good so after you handed Makoto's gift over to him, he escorted you home. And yes, he said 'escorted,' because Akito couldn't just say he walked you home."

"Oh. Yeah. I wasn't feeling too great last night. That wine went to my head," I told her. The queen of half-truths and not-quite lies was at it again. "So Keiko's gift made it to Makoto safe and sound? And Makoto's gift got to her?"

"Yep. Akito made sure of it," she confirmed.

I immediately felt relieved. I'd been feeling terrible about going home and not getting the gift exchange taken care of properly. Of course, though, Akito had smoothed that over and made sure that all was as it should be. Of course. And he'd even covered for me with my friends to explain why I hadn't returned to the seed shop. I'd made a complete fool of myself and he'd gone out of his way to look out for me. That was just so. . .so. . .Akito.

"I'm relieved," I told her truthfully. "I was worried that they wouldn't get their gifts because of me." Colby grabbed one of my coats and handed it to me. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Can I at least brush my teeth first?"

"You have two minutes," she said as she looked down at her watch. "Starting now."

When my two minutes were up and I was back in the living room with minty fresh breath, she handed me my coat again. I put it on and buttoned it up before going into my room to locate my new scarf that Nori had made me. That was when I remembered that I'd left it behind when I'd left Akito the previous night. I put on a different scarf and then looked for my gloves. That was when I recalled putting them into the pocket of the coat that I. . .left behind with Akito. With an inward groan, I hunted down a different pair. I then went looking for the pair of ear muffs I'd been wearing occasionally since not long after Marissa's departure. Of course, that was when I remembered that they'd been on that table when I'd climbed on top of it and was my face turning red?! I hoped it wasn't turning red because a random red face out of nowhere would be enough to make Colby want to know what was up.

I put on a hat and tugged my hair over my ears. "Alright," I'm ready," I told Colby as I shut my bedroom door behind us. "We're heading out, mom!" I called out right before I saw her standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "Oh, there you are."

"Good morning," Colby told my mom pleasantly.

"Good morning, honey," she told Colby, smiling at her sweetly. "Tell your parents I said hi and I'll see them later, alright?"

"We're going over to see about Keiko now, mom," I informed her after Colby agreed to do as she asked.

I felt bad about leaving her to do the farm work all by herself. Okay, I despised the thought of it, especially since her back was bothering her again. I wanted to be by her side, splitting the work. Even when I was sick in bed I hadn't wanted to leave her to do it by herself! She'd insisted on doing it all herself the day before, though, telling me that my duty was to be at the bride's beck and call and that she would be fine. And considering that I _was_ in the bridal party and it was Keiko's day, I couldn't formulate a good enough argument to change her mind.

"Go on ahead with Colby," she said with a little wave. "Everything here will be just fine."

With a disapproving sigh, I said "Alright. See you later."

"Oh, and Colby? Make sure Violet gets something to eat, alright?"

"You can count on me," she said, giving my mom a serious nod. "Besides, the hungrier she is, the more clumsy she gets," she teased.

"I resent that statement," I informed her on our way out the door.


	39. Wedding Day

**Author's Note:** This story ended up being _a lot_ longer than I originally thought it would be. In fact, it's now my second longest fanfic. I decided I was going to just write, though. Sure, there were certain things I definitely planned on happening at certain points in the story. Other than that, though, I just wanted to write as much as it took for Violet's story to get to where it needed to be. There are only two more chapters left after this one so prepare yourselves!

* * *

"I really don't think I could eat a single bite," Keiko said as we sat at a table in the tea house. It was lunchtime and not only was Colby making sure I ate something as my mom had asked, but Willow was also making sure that Keiko was getting her second meal of the day.

"You said the same thing earlier and yet you ate then, didn't you?" Willow pointed out.

While I was at home fast asleep, Nori had arrived at the seed shop and cooked a beautiful breakfast for Keiko and the others. I'd missed that breakfast, too, though. By the time I arrived, Nori was busy making last minute adjustments to everybody's outfits for later. As soon as I came through the door, she rushed toward me with mine and insisted I put it on again so that she could get any necessary changes done in time for the ceremony.

There were a few faults she found. I was personally convinced that she'd gotten herself so worked up over the importance of the day that she'd imagined the imperfections. I mean, I had an eye that was trained to hone in on details and I didn't see anything wrong. It was her one and only daughter's wedding day, though, so I couldn't fault her in the least for wanting everything to be absolutely perfect. Therefore, everybody had done exactly as she'd asked without even the smallest complaint.

"Give her a break, Will. That's what blushing brides are supposed to say. They're supposed to act delicate, demure, and insist that they have the appetite of a bird," I said, coming to Keiko's defense.

"Even though they have the appetite of a small army?" Colby threw out there with a laugh.

Apparently Keiko had taken no prisoners during breakfast. She'd completely demolished all of the food that Nori had sat in front of her.

"It was my nerves," Keiko insisted, actually becoming the blushing bride considering her face was turning red. "Besides, perhaps that's why I'm not particularly hungry now. I _did_ have a lot to eat at breakfast."

Willow let out a small sound of defeat and conceded "Alright, Kei. How about a cup of tea, then? As your maid of honor, and a reasonable person, I can compromise as long as you put _something_ in your body."

"A cup of tea sounds lovely, actually. Thank you," she said with a sweet smile as she rested her hands on top of each other on the table.

I knew that I wouldn't be as lucky. Colby wasn't about to let me get away with not eating anything. Certainly not after she'd promised my mother that she'd make sure I ate. She had no idea that my stomach was churning due to what happened the night before. Because, yes, I had been busy all morning, but I hadn't been so busy that my mind didn't stray back to Akito and that kiss.

That kiss had been intense. It's like how. . .before a storm the sky becomes cloudy. The clouds become darker and more ominous. The wind picks up, rustling the leaves of the trees. Lightning flashes overhead. Thunder rumbles. It carries on so long that you start to wonder when the rain is going to start. When? Everything continues and just builds up until finally, _finally_ , a single drop of rain comes. Then, two drops and before you know it the downpour begins. It was like there had been a big buildup, years of it, before that kiss finally happened. When it did, though, an immense downpour of _feeling_ came along with it. During this downpour, lightning had flashed between us and it had been intense. It had been beautiful, and yet. . .it had been ugly. It had been ugly because even if it had felt so right to me it had been so _wrong_.

"And there she goes again. Hey, space cadet, it's time to come back down to Earth," I heard Colby's voice say.

"Wait, what?" I asked, blinking a few times as I looked around the table.

"Welcome back," Keiko said with a soft giggle as she rubbed my arm gently.

"She's been acting weird all morning," Willow pointed out, rather unhelpfully in my case.

Colby gave me an appraising look and I felt the sudden need to shake things up so that she didn't start trying to dig too deep and get to the bottom of what was going on with me.

"I'm sorry I'm being so spacey. I guess I'm still not feeling a hundred percent after last night." That was true enough. "What were you guys saying?"

"I was asking what you wanted to eat. Everybody else has said what they want except for you."

Oh yeah. Lunch. It was time to order lunch. "My bad. Hey, I'll just have whatever you're having," I told Colby.

"I'm having steamed dumplings."

"On second thought, I'll have the pot stickers," I told her, realizing that I had a taste for something fried. "And green tea."

"Okay. Two orders of steamed dumplings. One order of pot stickers. Four orders of green tea. Got it," she said as she got up and went up to the counter.

"I can't wait until later," Willow said excitedly. "The guys are all going to look so handsome tonight! Makoto, especially," she said as she bumped her shoulder teasingly against Keiko's arm.

At the mention of the guys, my mind automatically went to one guy in particular. Akito. He _was_ going to look handsome and I did not need him looking even better than usual because that was just going to be torture, pure and simple. I brushed my fingers across my lips and tried to tell myself that I couldn't still feel his against them, as if they'd left a ghost impression behind to haunt me until the end of my days.

I ate all of my food because Colby was watching and if I'd just picked at it she would've known for sure that something was up. I just hoped that I didn't end up feeling physically ill later because today was not the day to get sick. Even though I was distracted, I did my best to pay attention to the conversation and participate. Even if my mind was halfway, on Akito, I somehow managed to be present there with them.

After lunch, we went on a walk through town, which I participated in like a champ considering it was cold. We weren't worried about Keiko running into Makoto because he was exiled to Bluebell for the day. He was being seen to by his best man, Jackson, who was a resident of Bluebell. Straying into Konohana could lead to him accidentally seeing Keiko, which would make both of them get superstitious and say it was bad luck that he saw her before the wedding. Therefore, both of them had agreed to stay in their respective towns until the ceremony.

When our walk was over, we retired to Willow's house for a little while. Oliver was over there hanging out with Dale when we arrived.

"Ollie!" I said enthusiastically as I snatched his cap off his head and ruffled his hair. Oliver had always insisted that he didn't like when I did that. The fact about the situation is this: Oliver was taller than me and in order for me to reach the top of his head to do this, he'd have to bend down a little to allow it. So how was I able to do this if he didn't lean down? I couldn't. He always leaned down just enough to let me and I always gave him the courtesy of pretending to turn a blind eye to that fact.

"Do you ever stop?" he grumbled a little as he took his cap back and placed it on his head once more. There was the faintest hint of a smile there, though, which he replaced with a little frown. The frown didn't matter, though, because I knew I hadn't imagined that smile.

"No," I answered simply as I looked at my little brother who was very nearly all grown up. "I thought you were out helping dad. What gives?"

Oliver propped his arm on Dale's shoulder as he said "The flowers are looking good. We're going to move them from the shop later and then the decorations for the wedding will officially be complete. I've recruited Dale to help us with the moving."

"Don't forget Alan. We're volunteering him even if he doesn't want to do it," Dale said, giving us a thumb's up.

"That guy sure has changed lately," Willow said, giving me a knowing look since I'd told my friends about the chat Akito had promised to have with his brother.

"No kidding, right? I thought I might have to beat my own friend up in the future for not treating our sister right. I think that disaster has been averted."

I looked at Dale, surprised, because I had never heard him contemplate violence before. I guess when it came to the well-being of siblings, though, such actions could become a possibility.

Then Dale said "Okay, I'm pretty sure Alan would be able to beat me in a fight if it ever came to that. I think I would have given him a stern talking to instead. Yeah, that's right. . ."

Once we retreated to Willow's room, I pulled out a few pictures from my rucksack. They were some from my bulletin board that I'd taken down for the purpose of showing Keiko today. There was a picture of all of us, including the guys, participating in a school play when we were about ten. There was a picture of just us girls blowing bubbles one spring afternoon somewhere on the mountain and I imagined I was probably celebrating the return of warm weather wholeheartedly.

"I haven't seen this one in forever!" Keiko gushed as she picked up a picture.

"It's been up on my bulletin board," I pointed out to her.

She waved my comment away. "Oh, Vi, there are so many pictures pinned up there that it's easy to overlook some."

"This one is a gem, though," Colby said as we leaned forward to look at what Keiko was holding.

It was a picture of Keiko and Makoto when they were about fifteen. Keiko had her arm around his back, although her hand couldn't reach his other side. Keiko was smiling brightly at the camera and in a rare show of humor, Makoto was making bunny ears behind her head. A very small smile was tugging at one corner of his lips as he looked at her.

Keiko was giggling. "I don't know why he works so hard to act like he's a wall of stone. He's such a warm and funny person, you know."

"We know," I assured her as I thought back on all the times over the years that Makoto showed cracks in his infamous armor. He'd been much more open and quite charming when we were little kids. We all knew that at his core, he was still the same person even if he preferred to appear quiet and gruff like his father.

"I love him," she said with a sigh of happiness.

"We know," we all chimed before everybody started laughing.

"I hope that someday all of you will know the happiness that I'm feeling right now just thinking about what's going to happen later."

The smile fell from my face then. I did want that happiness. I wanted it so badly that I could almost taste it. I thought back, not for the first time since it happened, to that conversation I'd had with Akito on the bridge right after he'd entrusted me with the secret of Makoto's impending proposal.

' _If there was a guy you were truly in love with and he asked you, I think it's likely you would be ready to take that step, too_.'

I'd had a hard time falling asleep that night because I'd kept replaying his words over and over again in my head. I'd had a hard time falling asleep because in my heart, I knew that the one person I wanted to share that kind of happiness with was. . .Akito.

"Don't worry," Willow said confidently as she sifted through a few more pictures. "Now that I finally have Zhen right where I want him, my future happiness is assured."

Colby looked a little pensive for a minute before she said "I'm not going to think about that for a while. I'm not saying I'll never be happy like that. It's just. . .I don't know. I think I need some time to heal after what happened with Ignacio. I'll get there, though, don't worry."

I gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze as I tried to think less about my own sad situation and more about the lives of those around me.

Keiko was about to take the biggest, most wonderful step in her life so far. Willow was finally, officially, dating Zhen. And Colby was about to travel out into the world with Jackson while he performed at the gigs he had lined up. Things were looking up for them. I was happy for them! Even if I simultaneously held a level of unhappiness about my own self, I was happy for _them_.

"So, how are the decorations?" Keiko hedged carefully.

"Nope, not going to happen. You're not allowed to know the details about those until you walk in. Even that little discussion about the flowers earlier might have been too much for your ears," Willow informed her.

"I was there during all of the wedding planning, naturally. I even helped Violet put together a couple of things."

"The overall result must remain a surprise, though, so the best thing for you at this juncture is to remain as much in the dark as possible," Willow insisted.

For some reason, the day was going by much faster than I had anticipated because before I knew it, it was time for us to head back to the seed shop to start getting ready. I was sitting there letting Colby put my hair into the same style I had just put hers in. The three of us were wearing our hair in elegant buns with strategically loose, curly tendrils and side-swept bangs. Zhen had agreed to specially make silver combs to go just above our buns.

"Okay, what do you think? How did I do?"

I looked at my reflection in the mirror and gave her handiwork a quick inspection. I turned my head from one side to the other before I told her "It looks great, Col. Thanks."

She sat down in the chair next to mine and cast a glance across the room to where Willow was. She was sitting on the floor painting her toenails even though nobody was going to see them. But hey, to each their own. If doing it made her feel that much more pretty then I was all for it. Keiko was currently being fussed over by Nori, Ayame, and even Reina. We both watched them silently for a few minutes.

"It's kind of unbelievable, isn't it?" Colby mused. "It seems like just yesterday that we were all kids. Now, those two are getting married."

"I know, right?" I said as Ayame finished up Keiko's hair. Nori was doing her makeup and Reina was painting her nails. She was being pampered real good. I smiled.

"Oh man, Vi. It's just. . ." She sighed rather unhappily. "I thought once upon a time that this would be happening to me not too long from now. These days, though, I'm starting to think that maybe that won't ever be me. Maybe I'll never be ready for that after what happened. . ."

One thing I was not going to do was let Colby miss out on true love someday because of Ignacio. If I had to find a guy for her myself and push them together and give them the opportunity to fall in love, I would do it. Ignacio wasn't going to stop her from living her life.

I thought of those words I'd been thinking of earlier again. This time, though, I decided to speak them out loud instead of letting them remain a memory. "I know that it's hard to imagine right now, but it'll happen for you. You're not at that point yet, but you will be. If there was a guy you were truly in love with and he asked you, I think it's likely you would be ready to take that step, too."

Colby glanced at me and looked thoughtful as she asked "Do you really think so?"

I took her hand in mine and gave it a little squeeze. "I do think so."

It was going to take her some time to get over what Ignacio had done and there would be moments when she felt a little vulnerable and a little lost. I could see her toughening back up yet again, though.

"Those were wise words, Vi," she told me with a quirking of her lips.

"Well, some of them came from a wise person," I assured her as I tried my best not to think about the man who had said that last part to me.

We painted our fingernails an icy blue and proceeded to get dressed. After we slipped into our shoes, we went over to assist with finishing Keiko up. By the time she was finally dressed in her mother's beautiful white kimono, Nori was in tears and Keiko was struggling not to cry just watching her.

"These snowflakes you added for Kei are gorgeous, Nori," I told her after her tears died down a little.

She sniffled as she dabbed at her eyes with the tissue Reina offered her. "Thank you, Violet. They're gorgeous. _She's_ gorgeous. She's gorgeous and getting m-married." And just like that, Nori dissolved into tears again.

"Oh, mother!" Keiko said, sounding thoroughly emotional.

"Makeup, makeup," Willow warned Keiko as she tried to keep her own tears at bay. The maid of honor was hovering next to the bride with a tissue just in case Keiko lost her battle.

"Don't worry about me," Nori insisted as she tried to reign in her tears again. She leaned in and kissed the air around Keiko's cheek so she didn't smudge anything. "I'm fine, really. These are happy tears, alright? I'm so, so happy for you two. Makoto is a wonderful young man."

"Makeup, makeup," Willow warned again.

"And Keiko, you are a wonderful young woman," Ayame said as she stepped forward, giving her a heartfelt embrace. "You've always felt like a part of our family, but I'm thrilled that I'm officially gaining a new daughter at last!"

Colby and Reina exchanged a meaningful look. "Okay, what do you two say we give the girls a few moments to themselves before we head out?" Reina suggested to Nori and Ayame.

"Yes, I think so. A bit of fresh air would do me some good," Nori told her. "Ayame?"

"I agree."

Colby mouthed our collective thanks to her mother as the three of them exited for the time being.

Keiko went to the chair I had vacated and very carefully sat down, mindful of her clothes the entire time. She took a deep breath and slowly released it.

"How are you hanging in there?" I asked her as she smiled at me. "Nervous?"

She shook her head before she nodded and then shook her head again. "Just a little, I suppose. I'm more excited than anything, though. The happiness far outweighs the nerves."

"Makoto is probably the one who is nervous. There's going to be so much attention on him today and you know how he feels about that," Colby pointed out.

We all started laughing then because Colby was definitely right.

Willow looked at the clock and said "Alright. I think it's time for us to get this one here over to the church. We don't want her to be late and make the groom think she got cold feet."

"Hey, it's freezing outside Will. There's a good chance she will get cold feet. Literally." We all laughed at that on our way out the door of her bedroom.

"How do I look?" Keiko asked me as she stood in the doorway. Willow and Colby were already in the next room. I paused to give her the once-over and I suddenly felt a little teary-eyed myself. She was truly a vision in white. The word angelic came to mind as she stood there waiting for me to formulate a sentence.

I gave her two thumbs up as I said "Keiko, you look beautiful."

"Thank you, Violet," she spoke softly before we joined the others. We donned our coats, all of which were white, and stepped outside with white umbrellas over our heads as we joined the other women. It was snowing at the moment and nobody wanted to mess up their hair with a hood. Well, with the exception of Keiko whose head was covered as a part of her outfit. I fought the temptation to spin my umbrella back and forth in my hands because I didn't want to spray anybody with the snow collecting on top of it.

That was difficult for me to do considering I felt the need for an outlet for the nervous energy I had collecting inside of me. The closer it drew to the ceremony, the closer it came to me seeing Akito. The mere thought of it had me feeling nauseous, yet. . .there was suddenly a part of me that did want to see him. That part obviously belonged to the Violet of yesterday afternoon who hadn't yet made a complete and total fool of herself! The post-kiss Violet was definitely feeling nauseous and seriously regretting those potstickers.

He'd been there with me all day without being physically present. When the phantom caress of his lips wasn't haunting me, it was the scorch of those brilliant golden eyes. My heart sped up just thinking about it and I slowed my pace to focus on taking a few calming breaths.

"You okay back there?" Colby asked as she noticed me lagging behind. She waited for me to catch up and frowned. "You look a little pale. Are you feeling sick again?"

"I'm not feeling so great," I admitted as we made it to the tunnel. "Don't worry, though. Let's just focus on the ceremony. I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" she questioned with concern evident in her voice.

"Mmm-hmm."

I could hear the sound of elegant music coming from the church when we emerged from the tunnel. I figured that Uncle Mikhail must have been playing his violin to help keep the assembled guests entertained before the ceremony.

"They're here!" Alisa enthused as we started walking up the steps of the church. I heard the music cut off.

Ayame stepped forward and said to Nori "I'll gather up the rest of our wedding party and the father of the bride." With that said, she entered the church.

"I think it's time to take our places. Let's get to it," Willow commanded with her maid of honor authority. She even clapped her hands together twice for good measure. She had dropped her umbrella in the process. It had stopped snowing for the time being, but she picked it back up anyway.

Colby took her spot about five feet from the doors. I moved behind her and Willow stood behind me. At the back of the line was Keiko. I looked over my shoulder and saw she was having a chat with Nori, who seemed to be holding it together at the moment. Keiko saw me looking at her and gave me a radiant smile. She was practically glowing. If that was what complete and utter happiness looked like then sign me up!

Somebody slipped out the door and there was Hiro. He stood there motionless for a few moments as he stared at his daughter with pure emotion shining in his eyes. He looked like he might be one step away from bursting out into tears like Keiko had. Nori stepped forward and collected him before ushering him to the back of the line to have a moment with Keiko.

The doors opened just enough for three men to file out. The first one I saw was Zhen, who made a beeline straight for Willow. The next one I noticed was Jackson. He came over to me and bent down enough for me to place a kiss on his cheek before he doubled back to chat with Colby about their trip. And then there was. . .Akito.

He was standing there leaning against the wall of the church, quietly assessing me. His arms were crossed with his hands disappearing up the sleeves of his haori. The exact shade, just like my kimono, was called blizzard blue. The irony of that was not lost on me, believe me. Akito's hair was pulled back into its usual ponytail, but for some reason there was nothing _usual_ about it. Boom-clap. I had known he was going to look handsome, but seeing him dressed up in those traditional clothes was really doing something to me. Even in the dying light of the winter evening, I could see him clearly. I steadfastly avoided making eye contact with him, but I could certainly feel the intensity of his gaze. It was almost as if I was in an isolated bubble of gravity that had been increased by at least a hundred. My stomach did constant flip-flops, churning like a stormy sea. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. I was starting to think I was going to hurl right there on the church grounds. I really hoped the Harvest Goddess wouldn't hold it against me should it happen.

Suddenly, Akito pushed away from the wall and started toward me. He didn't have that far to go, so I didn't have long to prepare.

' _Show him that famous Drayton poker face. Come on, unleash your inner Cam again_ ,' I thought, giving myself an extremely nervous pep-talk. I tilted the umbrella I was still holding enough for it to obscure my face long enough for me to school my features.

"Violet," I heard him say, his voice like a velvet touch as it made the sounds that formed my name. I could see his form there, right beyond the boundary of my umbrella.

I swallowed, hard, and took a deep breath before I lowered the umbrella and smiled up at him. "Akito. Good evening." Even saying that much felt like it was costing me something, like I'd shortened my life by five years.

He was so close that I couldn't risk avoiding eye contact with him without being painfully obvious about it. Therefore, I was forced to gaze up into those beautiful eyes of his, the same ones that were putting me into that gravity bubble with their intensity. It was more difficult than I'd imagined it would be. I could see them there in his eyes, the questions he had burning him on the inside. They were questions that I dreaded having to answer.

He let out a rough exhale before he softly said "You look beautiful."

' _Drayton face, Drayton face_!' I reminded myself as I struggled for composure. My face was under control. My mouth wasn't, though. "T-Thanks. So do you. Not beautiful, I mean. You're whatever the guy version of beautiful is. What's that word? You know. Umm. . .handsome. You look handsome."

I badly wanted to do a facepalm at that exact moment. Once again I was babbling like a total idiot! Having my Drayton face on wasn't going to do anything for me if my mouth wasn't on the same page. They weren't even on the same chapter of the book! My face was on like. . .chapter three and my mouth was on chapter ten!

There was a faint smile on his face, which was completely at war with the serious look I saw in his eyes. It was coming, I knew it. I could tell that it was coming and my mind was scrambling for a way to get out of this encounter.

"Look, Violet. We need to ta. . ."

At that moment, he got cut off by Raul. "Coats and umbrellas," he said simply as he had his brothers reached their arms out for the four of us to hand them over.

' _Saved by the triplets_ ,' I thought as I handed mine over to Diego, who gave me a fond smile as he took them.

"Excuse me, but it's time to take your places. The wedding is about to begin," Alisa said from where she had appeared in front of the doors.

Zhen moved to the front of the line next to Colby and Jackson made is way over to Willow. I looked back at Keiko. She was beaming at Hiro, who was actually shorter than her, and she looked completely ready. Nori had already disappeared inside to take her seat.

"My lady," Akito spoke with a slight frown of frustration as he offered me his arm.

I accepted it right before the doors opened up and Mikhail's violin started back up again.

"Finally," I heard Keiko say excitedly.

"Let the show begin," Willow said before Colby and Zhen started forward.


	40. Time to Come Clean

"The wedding was beautiful!" Annabelle gushed as I stood there surrounded by her, Serena, and Kimberly. I had no idea where their dates were at the moment, but the trio of boys couldn't have gone too far. "Keiko is a vision tonight."

"She is, isn't she?" I agreed softly as I gazed across the room to where she was dancing with Makoto. The man had actually cried when he saw her! Big, strong, silent Makoto had cried. I could only hope that my mom had been able to capture that moment on my camera. I wouldn't know until I developed the film in the darkroom I'd set up in my teenage years. Or rather, my mom would do it. She was the official photographer for tonight and she absolutely knew what she was doing considering my love for art was something I inherited from her.

"I knew that tonight was going to be perfect. I saw it in my cards," Serena informed us before she raised her glass and took a sip of her drink.

"You should ask those cards of yours about me," I joked. "I'd sure like to have a heads up whenever something bad is going to go down in my life."

Serena gave me a strangely knowing smile before she said "Oh, I already did at Willow's request. Tonight is going to be perfect for you, too."

Before I could ask her what in the world that meant, Kimberly said in her quiet voice "The decorations are wonderful, Violet."

The church had been decorated with the fragrant flowers my father had so painstakingly prepared. Sparkly snowflakes I'd spent a lot of time cutting out, gluing, and glittering up were sprinkled from the doorway to the end of the aisle. There was the occasional artificial, white, wintry tree spread around the room. Hanging from the branches were more snowflakes. Keiko had looked at me in disbelief and wonder before she started walking down the aisle. The reception area was similar with the flowers, snowflakes, and trees. Snowflakes were also hanging from the ceiling, though. And I couldn't forget the centerpieces on the tables. There were tall vases of flowers that dad had helped me with. Around the vase, though, was a circle of snowflakes along with white candles that glowed softly inside of little handmade lanterns. Keiko had given me a hug that shockingly rivaled Colby's in strength once she saw the room.

"Thank you!" I told her earnestly, enjoying getting all of my hard work complimented. "I couldn't have done it all without all the help I received, though. Volunteers are great in times of need."

"You looked so beautiful walking down the aisle with my brother," Annabelle spoke in a tone that suggested absolute delight. "You two looked perfect together, just perfect! Mom said so, too."

"Isn't that your brother coming over here now?" Kimberly asked as she looked over my shoulder.

I whipped my head around so fast that I wondered if I needed an exorcism. Kim was right. Akito was definitely heading our way. My heart started up with that boom-clap stuff at the sight of him. His bangs had fallen into his left eye and my hand was begging me to reach across the space between us and brush them aside for him. I don't know how I was going to achieve that since I didn't have super stretchy arm powers, but hey. I suddenly felt panic flowing through my veins and knew I had to put distance between us.

Colby was over by the tables that were heavily laden with food. She was talking to Jackson, though, and I didn't want to disturb them. Willow was dancing with Zhen and there was no way I was about to get all up in the middle of that. My mom was talking to Laney, Georgia, and Reina. Dad was nowhere to be seen. There wasn't anybody that I could actually use as an excuse, but I would have to figure something out. I schooled my features as I turned my attention back to the girls.

"I think I just saw Howard trying to get my attention and I'm going to see what he wants. Enjoy the rest of the night, alright?"

I didn't give them a chance to respond to that because I immediately went in the opposite direction of the one Akito was coming from. I took deep, measured breaths as I hustled away. It was bad enough that I'd had the pleasure and pain of walking down that aisle with him. It was bad enough that I'd been pressed against him while my mom was taking pictures of the wedding party. It was bad enough that I'd felt his eyes on me pretty much the entire night. Every time I'd lost my personal inner battle and glanced at him, he'd been looking at me in that way he had that gave me the impression that he could see right through me to all those secrets I'd carefully locked away. It was driving me crazy!

Wait, wait, wait. Hadn't I told myself that I wouldn't start avoiding Akito again after he called me out on it back on Spring Harmony? What was I doing? Wasn't it bad enough that I'd already forced myself on the guy? I didn't need to avoid him like the plague and make him think that _he'd_ done something wrong. I would have to suck it up and stand in his presence and try really, really hard to act normal. Besides, wasn't there safety in numbers? I'd be safe from some kind of interrogation from him in a group, especially one including his sister in it.

' _Alright, I'm turning back around_ ,' I thought.

"Oomph!" I said as I walked right into some poor guy thanks to my distraction. "Hey, sorry. I. . .Dad?"

"Violet. I should have known," he said with a soft laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked with a raising of my eyebrow.

"Who else would be so clumsy?" he asked me in a matter-of-fact way. It was so matter-of-fact, actually, it it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Gee, it's nice to know that my own parent is always going to give me the benefit of doubt," I told him with fake indignation. Then I smiled at him and we both laughed about it.

He grew quiet suddenly and grabbed my hands before holding me at arm's length. "Time goes by so fast," he mumbled as he took in the sight of me in the traditional Konohana clothes. "Before I know it, you're going to be the bride."

Dad pulled me to him then and before I knew it, we were having ourselves a little father-daughter dance and I loved it.

"I have to get a groom before I can be a bride," I pointed out to him with a rueful smile. "Don't worry, though. When that day comes, I'll look like a proper Bluebell bride."

"I'll make you a flower crown that the Harvest Goddess herself will envy," he promised me then as we swayed to the music. "Only the best for my princess."

I laid my head against his chest and let him put his chin on top of my head. "If I'm the princess then does that make mom the queen?"

"Of course," he told me simply, like it was the foregone conclusion that we both knew it to be. I could hear his grin radiating through his voice.

"Excuse me," I heard then and the blood in my body ran freezing cold yet burning hot at the same time. When dad stopped moving, I lifted my head and saw Akito standing there in a bow. When he straightened back up, he looked at my father and said "Sir, I was wondering if I could cut in and get a dance with your lovely daughter."

My dad gave Akito a critical, assessing look as if there was something big on his mind. He glanced over at where my mom was and got a frustrated look on his face. He finally let out a little sigh and nodded at Akito. "I suppose I can allow that. By all means," he said as he stepped aside.

' _Traitor_ ,' I thought as I watched him walk away and leave me alone with Akito. ' _And what was that look he gave mom about_?'

I saw something in my peripheral vision and turned. Akito was holding his hand out to me.

"May I have this dance, Violet?" he asked, knowing that my permission was necessary even though he'd already gotten the go-ahead from my father.

I looked down at that hand, that rough yet gentle hand, and took it. "Don't be silly, Ki. Of course you can."

I had to give myself major props for sounding so completely normal as I said that even though that blizzard in Buena Vista was swirling around inside of me at the moment.

The song changed and the beat picked up, yet Akito set his own beat and his own pace as he held me close.

"You do know that this song calls for faster dancing, don't you?" I asked him, feeling my heart hammering against my rib cage.

"I know," he stated as he held me a little tighter. Unfortunately, that only reminded me of how tightly he'd held me the night before, almost as if he were afraid that I would disappear. I had to fight against the instinct to burrow even closer because right now I wasn't close enough. I kind of wanted to cling to him like a second skin even though I also wanted to be at least twenty feet away from him at the moment. "I wanted to talk to you, though, so this way is better."

Tell me why I suddenly felt like a forest animal caught in a hunter's trap? "Oh. . .um. . ." It was getting difficult to speak around the golf ball sized lump that had formed in my throat. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Last night," he informed me in a voice that had somehow turned a little raspy. I felt the low rumble of it somewhere in my soul, for some strange reason.

Warning bells were going off in my head. I knew that it was going to come to this, which was why I'd wanted to avoid him earlier. I pulled from an extra reserve of strength as I fought to keep my voice level. "Yeah? What about it?"

He was quiet for a moment before he found words again. "I know you had something to drink last night, but it wasn't enough for you to magically forget."

Busted.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, Akito." If he wanted to confront me about this then I wasn't going to make it easy for him.

I felt him give a shaky laugh then. "You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?" Man, it was like he was psychic when it came to me sometimes! "That kiss, Violet," he said softly, leaning down to brush the words against my ear. They caressed me, softer than the petal of a rose. "What was that?"

"I. . ." I started and then trailed off. I what? I totally took advantage of you? I accidentally crawled across a table and kissed you? I. . .somehow ended up unleashing over a decade of unrequited love on you all at once through my lips?

He waited patiently as I dizzily swayed with him and struggled to find the appropriate words. Three seconds passed. Five seconds passed. Ten seconds passed.

"I. . ." I started again, still not sure of what I was about to let come out of my mouth.

The tapping of a spoon against a glass interrupted me and we stopped dancing, both of us looking over toward where Willow stood at a table. It seemed that it was time for toasts and we were definitely expected to say something.

I stepped away from Akito and put distance between us. That distance added up to a grand total of about six feet. "I think we should get over there before she summons us in front of everybody and then the whole room turns to watch us as we go up there."

"Yeah," he agreed reluctantly. As if the tone of his voice wasn't hint enough, the look on his face spoke volumes. He looked like he wanted to take me somewhere quiet and continue the conversation, but couldn't since our absence would definitely be noticed. "We probably should."

I hoped I didn't look as relieved as I felt that I had somehow managed to get out of having that particular conversation for now.

By the time things died down again and nobody at the party would miss me, it was nearing midnight. Everybody was staying assembled as part of the New Year's Eve celebration as well as the wedding reception. Nathan had announced that when it was time for the countdown to midnight, he was going to ring the bell of the church this year since everybody would be assembled there. As I pulled my jacket around me and stepped outside for some fresh air, I glanced over at the bell. It was finely polished and looked ready in the faint light coming from the church as well as the moon.

I realized then that I needed more than a little fresh air at the moment. I needed a nice, quiet, peaceful walk. The thought of this walk happening in the cold had me cringing, but for once I found that the cold air felt a little nice on my skin after the stuffiness that came with having so many people gathered together in one place. That being said, I was sure that it would probably be less than one minute later when I started to regret my decision. Still, though, I carefully made my way down the stairs and made my way onto the main road.

Without much of a direction in mind, I kind of wandered to the left as I let my thoughts take over. I was already regretting this walk, but I ignored the cold sapping away my heat and kept on walking. When my path started to head up, I realized that I was going toward the mountain. That was when I realized exactly where I was heading.

Absentmindedly, I made it to the spot where my dad liked to go and think sometimes on his days off. Sometimes he would take me with him and I would play on the little island in the middle of the water. He had an adorable story about how there was a kitten he and my mom found over there back in the day and how they successfully returned it to its owner. After a glance down at the ice, I decided to just go for it and I slid out on it. I was pretty sure I was going to end up doing a faceplant on the ice. I mean, add naturally clumsy together with ice and that just equaled disaster. Yet, surprisingly, I reached the little island without incident and stepped out onto the land. I guess all those years of ice skating had helped me out with that.

I went over to the tree that was a little off-center and leaned against it as I gazed up at the sky. It was a crystal clear night with no sign of the clouds that had brought snow earlier on in the day. The moon was shining its soft, beautiful light. And right above me was Orion's Belt and I thought about what Serena had said about it being a lucky night for me.

"I could use a little luck," I whispered as I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the tree. The comb was digging into my scalp thanks to the pressure, but I didn't really care.

My mind wandered yet again to that kiss. The scorching intensity of it was seared into my memory. It was like going swimming and holding your head under water until you're so desperate for air that you frantically kick for the surface. It was like finally taking that breath that you desperately needed and chasing away the burning in your lungs. Yeah, it was like that.

What in the world was I going to do about Akito? I was so tired of holding it all in. It's like I'd been exerting so much effort for so long that I was finally worn out. Tired, tired, tired. Maybe it was just. . .time for me to tell him the truth. I'd wanted to let more time pass, to allow more time for him to heal after Courtney. There was no other way to explain that kiss, though, unless I wanted to lie to his face some more. And I didn't want to do that. He didn't deserve that and I suddenly realized that neither did I.

I'd spent so many years afraid to tell him about my feelings and I still was. I was terrified. Just the thought of telling him and facing that rejection had me wanting to stuff the truth back down and never let it see the light of day. I couldn't forget, though, how not that long ago I'd spent a great deal of time agonizing over not being able to tell him because of Courtney. I'd thought I was so stupid for not saying anything to him before that fateful day when Courtney arrived in town and I'd lost my chance. I'd hardcore regretted that and mentally kicked myself over it.

Courtney was gone now, though. What was I waiting for? When would enough time pass for me to consider Akito being over it enough to tell him? I could never consider Akito a rebound, even if I had just broken up with Jackson the day before. And I had to believe. . .I had to be able to trust and give Akito the benefit of the doubt. He would never turn me into a rebound, even on the unbelievably slim chance that he were to accept my affections. That wasn't the kind of guy he was. I realized then that I'd been using the whole rebound thing as an crutch. An excuse. As a justification for keeping my mouth shut that much longer.

I was suddenly beyond fed up with being a person who kept so much inside. I was tired of being somebody who ran away, sometimes literally, from facing reality. Just the previous night, I'd run away from Akito and that hadn't even been the first time I'd gone ghost on him like that and disappeared. I felt so frustrated about being that way and then it occurred to me that I didn't have to be that way anymore if I didn't want to.

 _If there's something you don't like about yourself, though, then it's up to you to change it_.

Akito had said that to me once upon a time. He'd made it sound so simple and easy and at the time it had felt anything but. For some reason though, it finally felt the way he'd made it sound to me. It felt simple and easy. Some things in life are difficult to change, but this wasn't. This was something I could do just by deciding to and following through. All I had to do was go back to the church and find Akito. Even with my newfound determination, the idea of doing that made me feel kind of faint, yet I felt in my bones that this was exactly what I wanted to do. It was right. I was going to make this happen.

' _You've got this. You can do this. Come on, woman up_!' I cheered myself on inside my head. No more stalling. No more secrets. No more regrets.

I took a step forward and opened my eyes. Then, I froze in place. Standing there in my dad's spot, just outside the reach of the moonlight, was the shape of a man who was watching me. I had to strain my eyes to make out the features of his face, but when I did I swallowed hard past that lump that magically returned. He had his hands up the sleeves of the haori again. The frigid breeze started whipping his ponytail around. And the intensity of his gaze just confirmed what I already knew. It was Akito.

We stood there for a few moments just staring at each other in the quiet and the dark and the cold. This was my chance, right in front of me. He was right there. I supposed he'd followed me and I didn't know how long he'd been standing there, but here we both were at that very moment. It was meant to be, right? Truly, it felt like fate. This was it. The time was now, I guessed.

Before I could take a step forward, Akito made his way out onto the ice.

"Ki, no," I said as I put my hands up in a placating way. "Go back and I'll come to you."

"There's less of a chance I'll fall coming to you than there is of you falling coming to me so. . ."

He didn't get to finish that sentence because he slipped on the ice and landed on his back. The force of his fall sent him sliding across the ice and straight toward the little island.

"Akito!" I called out as I rushed forward to where he was sprawled out. "Are you okay?!" I asked as I carefully dropped to my knees and leaned over him. This close to him, I could make his features out just fine by the light of the moon.

He looked up at me and out of nowhere he started to laugh. He started to laugh as if somebody had just told him the funniest joke in the world. He laughed with reckless abandonment, the sound of it warming me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. Was he laughing at his own self because he fell and slid across the ice? I was pretty sure that in a day or two I'd find it absolutely hilarious as I thought back on it. At the moment, though, I was concerned that he'd hit his head and knocked something loose when he fell.

"What's so funny?" I asked with a frown.

He fought for control of himself and when the laughter finally stopped he said "I'm sorry, Violet, I really am. It's just, this is so ironic that I can't even believe it."

"What?" I hedged, wondering if I should go get Hiro even if he was in the middle of enjoying his daughter's reception.

"I fell," he said as if that explained everything, which it didn't. He must have seen my thoughts on my face because he hurried on to explain. "Do you remember back when we would go ice skating as kids?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Do you remember that day that you fell flat on your back?" he asked me with that light in his eyes that had always drawn me to him.

Of course I remembered that particular day. I remembered it utterly and completely in great detail. That was the day that I had fallen head over heels in love with Akito. And it was about time I told him that, right?

"Yeah, I remember. Hey, I. . ."

"That was the day," he interrupted as he continued to gaze up at me with those beautiful golden eyes.

"What day?" I questioned him as I tilted my head to the side a little in confusion.

"One minute you were up and skating alongside me and the next minute you went down. You made a little 'oomph' noise when you fell and I turned around to see what happened. There you were on your back on the ice."

"I remember," I told him quietly, wondering where in the world he was going with this story about what was one of the most important days of my life.

"I rushed over and I leaned over you. You looked up at me with those big violet eyes of yours and I swear I wondered if I had ever realized just how beautiful they were before. Your hair was spilling out all around you on the ice like some kind of golden halo. And then I finally noticed the perfume your dad makes for you, the one that you wear every single day, and I thought 'You know, that smells great.' My heart did this strange kind of. . .I don't know. . .it. . ."

"Boom-clap?" I asked in a barely audible whisper.

"Yeah! Yeah, that was it. It went boom-clap. I think that was the moment and that was the day when I. . ." He paused and looked at me seriously. There was so much flying at me from his eyes at that moment. I was surprised to see fear there, the same kind of fear I'd harbored for so long. And there was also. . .There was also. . . "That was when I fell in love with you," he admitted, his voice as clear as a cloudless sky on a summer day.

I sat there quietly looking down at him as I processed this, not even caring or noticing the cold, wet ice that was freezing my knees. I sat there like that for so long that Akito started to grow nervous and unsure of himself.

"I-I-I know that I messed things up, Violet, okay? I wanted to tell you how I felt after that day you fell in the water and went back to my dad's shop with me and then ran away. I waited too long, though. Courtney came out of nowhere and like I've told you before, I didn't want to turn her down after she came all that way for me. . .That being said, I kept her at arm's length. The only times we even kissed were in public. Then you got together with Jack and seeing you with him made me so jealous. . ." He grew silent for a few moments as he collected his thoughts. "You know, Courtney and I had a whole lot of problems that we argued about day in and day out. Our biggest problem in the city, I think, was that she could tell my heart wasn't really in it. And our biggest problem here was that she met you and finally knew why."

It made perfect sense now, why Courtney always looked at me with a certain amount of animosity. It made sense now why I could always sense that she didn't like me. It certainly made sense now why she'd said such a covertly nasty thing about my dress at the Fireworks Festival. Hearing that Akito had been fending off her physical advances the whole time certainly made my heart soar. And knowing that he'd felt just as jealous seeing me with Jackson as I'd felt seeing him with Courtney certainly didn't hurt any. I suddenly felt like laughing and crying at the same time. I'd managed to wait too long yet again. Only this time when I waited too long to tell Akito that I loved him, he beat me to the punch and told me instead.

There he was, still laying there on the ice, looking up at me as if he were asking me to say something, to say _anything_. And his heart was on his sleeve. It was right there on his sleeve and it was finally mine for the taking. Or rather, it seems it had been mine all along without me knowing just like mine had always been his. I was right back to feeling like crying and laughing at the same time.

"I never answered your question before," I said gently, breaking the silence that had fallen. "You asked me why I kissed you and I didn't tell you why."

"Are you going to tell me now?" he asked, sounding kind of breathless with anticipation. Did I really have that kind of effect on him?

I reached down and pushed his bangs back so I could lean over and look him dead in the eyes, the lemon to my grape. "I kissed you because. . ." I paused here and marveled at how something that had seemed so impossible for me to say before suddenly felt as easy to me as breathing. "I've been madly and _completely_ in love with you since that day I fell on the ice, too. And the biggest struggle of my entire life has been me trying to keep those feelings in while also being terrified of letting them out."

Akito smiled at me then, the same radiant smile he'd had that fateful day when I fell in love with him. There it was. It was pure sunshine coming from my kryptonite. Instead of weakening me, though, I felt it strengthening me. At that moment, with Akito, I felt invincible.


	41. Akito

**Author's Note:** This here is a bonus chapter before the final chapter. I almost didn't finish writing it. I'd actually forgotten about it until I was editing the last chapter and noticed I had this document open. And then I realized I couldn't _not_ finish it, especially considering who this chapter is about! So. . .surprise! I was going to post the last chapter today, but I finished writing this and posted it instead.

HarmoniaFreak: Thank you for the wonderful review! It truly brings me joy to know that I've made somebody so happy with my story. I'm also always happy to run into another Cam fan! If you haven't already, you should read my other ToTT fic about Lillian and Cam. And I hope you enjoy this chapter and the next!

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I was beginning to feel like a stalker. Ever since my breakup with Courtney, I had made it my personal mission to be everywhere that Violet was. Well, maybe not _everywhere_ , but I was starting to feel like her shadow. That's hard for a man to accomplish when the lady in question is somewhere around five and a half feet tall and the shadow is over six feet. I'd even dipped out on hanging with the guys for a little while earlier in the day so I could trail after Violet and the girls as they went for a walk around Konohana. I found it difficult to stay away from her. It was _Violet_. How could I?

When I'd come home from the city to be with my mom, nobody had said "Hey, guess what. Violet is back in town." That would have been greatly appreciated, but no such luck. I didn't have the benefit of a heads up. I'd walked into my mom's shop completely blind that day and there she was. It was _her_. For the first time in so many years I saw Violet again and it felt like a bulldozer had knocked me in the stomach. Her hair was a little longer than before and it was pulled across one shoulder. I remember she had on a pair of capris, a white tank-top, and a red plaid shirt. After spending so many years in the city being surrounded by high maintenance women, it was refreshing seeing somebody so comfortable being casual and low maintenance. That being said, I was only human. And a man at that. I certainly appreciated it when a woman put in extra effort for a special occasion.

I didn't think a lady had to do that every single day, though. It was okay to get dirt under your fingernails or grass in your hair from being hard at work. It was okay for a woman to let her more natural beauty take center stage the way Violet was at that very moment. Man, she was beautiful. She'd always been beautiful, but she was even more beautiful as she stood there before me. Time had been kind to her. Time had been more than kind to her, had favored her exceedingly. She looked at me with those luminous violet eyes, like two amethysts gleaming at me, and I'd felt like right at that moment I was truly coming home. Wow, that was incredibly cheesy. I'm a little embarrassed by my own thoughts. Okay, uh. . .

How had I managed to keep a respectable distance from her for so long? That was a good question. The answer came to me, though, as an unwelcome whisper in my head.

Courtney.

I liked to think of myself as an intelligent man. In the end, though, I could see that I had been nothing more than Courtney's fool for a much longer time than I dared to admit. When I first met Courtney, she'd been different. Or rather, she'd been exactly the same and had done a better job at hiding her true self from me. I barely recognized the woman I'd recently broken up with when I thought back on the woman who had charmed me on that first day. When she'd followed me to Bluebell, I'd thought that things would change. I'd thought that maybe Courtney would go back to being that woman I'd once thought she was. Admittedly, there was a part of me that realized that even if she did it wouldn't change the fact that I knew our relationship was doomed either way. It was doomed because there was no changing what I felt for Violet. I was merely postponing the inevitable. In the end, though, things only got worse.

The worst of our arguments had always, without fail, involved Violet. Violet. She didn't even have to be in the room and yet she was present, always in my thoughts and in Courtney's as well, though not in the same way as in mine. It seemed Courtney had known immediately. Maybe she'd always known on some level with as much talking about Vi as I'd done back in the city. . .

Probably the biggest problem of all between me and Courtney was the fact that the moment I laid eyes on Violet again. . .I'd tried, though, I'd tried. After all, Courtney had come all that way from the city and asked me if we could try again. How could I not at least _try_? Courtney had done some trying of her own, though. She'd tried to change me, just as she had in the past. Every time she tried to strip away a piece of me, however, Violet was there to help me reclaim a small fragment of who I was. She seriously made me question how it was I'd spent years living without her. Perhaps I'd been spending that time merely existing, not fully alive, because being with Vi was like. . . Alright, cheesy again.

Do you want to know a secret? Prepare yourself because this is a big one: I suspected that blizzard was going to hit when I volunteered to go with Violet to Buena Vista. I'd stood outside as she'd disappeared inside that barn to talk to Colby and I'd looked up at the sky. The clouds had that ominous look about them and I just knew. . .Yes, I was worried about her rushing off on a horse while in that emotional state. Yes, I didn't want her to be alone with Ignacio because if he'd touched even one hair on her head. . . Yes, I knew there was no way I could talk her out of going and I didn't want her to end up getting caught in the blizzard by herself. I would be lying, though, if I said that a part of me hadn't wished I'd get stuck there with her. I'd just wanted to be able to spend some time with her, time where it was just the two of us and I didn't have to worry about Courtney popping up out of nowhere. I'd really needed that conversation we'd had at dinner and I was secretly grateful to that blizzard for it.

I'd even watched her sleep! Man, I really should change my name to 'pathetic' or 'lovesick puppy' or something else. When I woke up in that room at the inn and saw she was still asleep, I sat there for a little while watching the way her hair fell on the pillow and how her crazy-long eyelashes swept against her cheeks. And I felt ten kinds of awful the entire time because not only was I in a relationship with Courtney, but Violet had also just broken up with one of my best friends.

That in and of itself was another dilemma. I'd always known how Jackson felt about Violet. Always. The thing was, Jack had never known about my feelings for her and he'd never known that I knew about his. Knowing Jack as well as I know him, though, I can explain his thought process to you. I'll start from the beginning of the situation, though. After that day on the ice, I started to truly take notice of Violet and watched her more closely than ever before. At the time, I felt too awkward to talk about it with my friends. I mean, it hadn't been that long before that when we thought that all girls had cooties and that liking them would be gross. I was just entering those awkward teenage years and it's not easy to make that transition when you have these big new feelings suddenly hit you like a hurricane. So I kept what I was feeling for Violet to myself for the moment.

A couple of years later, though, I saw that Jackson was watching Violet about as closely as I watched her and that was when I knew. I knew that he had feelings for her, too. And I also knew there was no way he was going to tell anybody about it because they'd been told they were cousins their entire lives. Jack was probably feeling guilty and a little ashamed and more than a little awkward. Oh, and let's not forget confused. There was _no_ way he was going to fess up about his feelings for Violet. And after realizing he'd developed feelings for her, too, there was no way that I could tell him about mine. We'd always been close, as close as brothers, and yet this was something that couldn't be shared. That doesn't mean that I didn't end up telling Makoto, though, and then swore him to secrecy. While he didn't keep secrets of his own from Keiko, that didn't mean he wouldn't adhere to the bro code and keep _my_ secrets from her.

Jackson had ultimately fessed up right before he made his move on Violet, though. I'd had to grin and bear it and pretend that this was the first I was learning about how he felt. I'd had to encourage him and cheer him on and tell him to go for it even though that was the last thing I wanted to do. Because I was with Courtney. I had committed myself to trying with her. So what right did I have to do anything other than support one of my best friends when he was asking for that support? What right did I have to begrudge him happiness? And still, for some reason, I found myself feeling surprised when they got together. For somebody who should have been prepared for it, I found myself not prepared for it at all. In the end, though, it didn't work out between them. And things didn't work out between me and Courtney.

"Son? As I live and breathe. . .I bet you didn't hear a single thing I just said to you," my mom drawled as she stood there looking like a small female version of me. Or rather, I looked like a tall male version of her. We were in the church waiting for the rest of the wedding party to arrive.

"I'm sorry for that, mom. I have a lot on my mind. What were you saying?" Violet did that sometimes, staring off into space while deep in her thoughts and not hearing a word you were saying to her.

"I said you look handsome this evening," she told me as she reached up and tugged on my ponytail. "Doesn't he?"

She glanced over her shoulder at my dad, who stood there and gave me an approving nod. "He's _our_ kid. Of course he does."

"Why, seeing him dressed like this reminds me of you on our wedding day." She smiled brightly at that as she looked back up at me. I recognized that gleam in her eyes and knew she was getting ready to say something that I wouldn't be entirely comfortable hearing. Where was Alan at when I needed him to help shift the focus off me? "Speaking of weddings, when are _you_ going to bring a brand new daughter into our family?"

That gleam in her eyes never lied. I cleared my throat a couple of times before I spoke. "I _just_ broke up with Courtney, mom," I said in a reasonable tone.

"Well, I certainly wasn't talking 'bout her. Good riddance," she said decidedly as she crossed her arms over her chest. It shouldn't have been possible, but I felt myself love my mom even more in that moment.

"Georgie," my dad spoke as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What? I tolerated her for our boy's sake, but now that she's gone. . ."

"They're here!" Alisa called out and the music from Mikhail's violin abruptly cut off.

Ayame entered the church and went into mother-of-the-groom-mode. "If I could have your attention, please," she called out just loud enough to be heard. "I need the other half of the wedding party to make their way outside." With that said, she joined Makoto and Mako and started gushing over her son. Makoto looked distinctly uncomfortable with being fussed over, but he knew better than to try to deter his mother. I was sure that the sudden sheen of tears in her eyes had killed any objections he'd tried to think up anyway.

"That's my cue." I took hold of my mother's hand and brushed my lips across it before I nodded at dad. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to head outside."

"Alright, son. Make us proud!"

"Yes, ma'am," I said as I started walking away.

"Oh, you and Violet will look _perfect_ together coming down the aisle!"

Just the mention of Violet made my mind go back to the night before. I remembered the previous night with crystal clarity. I'd actually volunteered to be the one to go out and give Makoto's gift to Keiko. When Jackson pointed out that he was the best man and he should do it, I'd challenged him to a game of rock paper scissors and won. Why did I go to such lengths? Because I wanted the chance to see Vi, even if only for a minute. So imagine my surprise when I was walking to the seed shop and ran into her by the board. When I'd talked her into going back to my dad's shop with me, I had two objectives: First, I wanted to be able to spend a little more time with her. Second, I wanted to retrieve the birthday gift I'd been too chicken to give her on her birthday. Well, I almost gave it to her, but her dad came out of nowhere and I lost my nerve. So yeah, I was too chicken. . . I should have just given it to her when she was over for the Starry Night festival. I'd had ample opportunity and it never hurts to give somebody a present a little early. . .

I only had those two objectives, though. I definitely could not have guessed that what had happened would happen. Yeah, I could tell that Vi was inebriated as I escorted her to the shop, but how in the word could I have anticipated that the woman was going to _crawl across a table and kiss me_?! I'm a gentleman so I'm not going to go into detail about how exactly that made me feel. I will say that I'm surprised that I lived to tell you the tale. I don't know how the sequence of my thoughts sound in my own head. If you've been thinking 'Why do Akito's thoughts seem so scattered?' then that's why. Violet scattered them. She scattered them to the four corners of the globe. I was exhausted because I didn't sleep at all the previous night because I'd spent literally the entire night thinking about that kiss. And then I'd spent the larger part of my day thinking about it as well. It was hands down the most intense kiss of my life. It wasn't the gentle kiss I'd always imagined sharing with Violet. And yes, I'd imagined kissing Violet _a lot_ over the years. Admittedly, I kind of lost my self-control for a minute there. I guess when you want something for so long of a time and then suddenly you're getting it, it's kind of hard to keep a firm grip on your emotions.

She pulled away, though, and seemed like she was about five seconds away from hyperventilating. Then, she started crying and I felt like such a jerk because surely _I_ did something and that was why she was crying. Then she apologized for I don't know what and ran away. I'd wanted to run after her, but I knew it would be no use. She was undoubtedly going straight home and even if I followed her there I knew her well enough to know she wouldn't come out the house and face me. If anything, I'd end up waking her parents up and what kind of explanation would I give her dad when he appeared in the doorway wanting answers? Vi would be mortified and I wasn't going to put her through a situation like that. Instead, I'd found her earmuffs and stared at them for at least five whole minutes. Instead, I'd gone to the front and looked at the coat she'd left behind with dismay because she hated the cold and she must have been freezing on the way home. Instead, I'd reached in her pocket and retrieved the gift Keiko had sent for Makoto. Instead, I'd gone to give the gift Makoto had sent for Keiko and came up with a valid excuse for why Violet had gone home.

Why had she gone home? Why had she been crying? Most importantly, why had she kissed me? Had she kissed me because she'd been drinking? If another guy had bumped into her that night then would she have kissed him instead?No, she wouldn't have. I knew Violet. That was why I knew that she wouldn't have kissed any other guy she ran into. She wasn't that kind of woman, that kind of lady. That still didn't explain why she'd kissed _me_. I knew why I'd responded to the kiss and kissed her back. I was in love with her. And when she'd kissed me, I felt an undeniable chemistry. An instant connection. I thought I'd felt something there behind that kiss, like if I had a shovel and tried to dig I'd find gold. For a moment there, I'd felt that maybe. . .maybe I wasn't alone in these feelings. Maybe she. . .And yet as well as I knew Violet, there were still times when she was a complete mystery to me. Why did she kiss me?

I saw Hiro go out the doors first. He left out so fast that I didn't so much as catch a glimpse of the women assembled outside. I met up with Jack and Zhen. Zhen gave me a nod and Jack did a quick version of the secret handshake we'd come up with along with Makoto forever and a day ago. We looked back at Makoto and gave him a thumb's up, which earned us both a frown. We knew better, though. He was too nervous at the moment to smile, although he was probably smiling a little on the inside.

"I don't want to risk Ayame's wrath so I'm heading out," Zhen announced before he started for the doors.

Jackson snorted. "You don't want to risk the maid of honor's wrath, you mean," he pointed out with an amused chuckle.

Zhen didn't bother responding to that because we all knew that Willow was the person he was really worried about answering to if we became the hold up.

I followed after Zhen and Jack and made my way outside. Zhen immediately sought out Willow, of course. I leaned back against the wall of the church and watched as Jackson leaned in for a kiss on the cheek from Violet. When he moved away to talk to Colby, I caught my first full sight of her.

Boom-clap.

Violet had an inner beauty that could put the outer beauty of a fashion model to shame. It was like a flower that blossomed and stayed absolutely perfect all year long. Even on the coldest day of winter, its petals were soft and fragrant and reminded you of warm days and happy times. That beauty emanated from her heart, which was always so full of love and concern for others. That was the part of her I loved the most. Outside, she was gorgeous as well, though, and tonight she was breathtaking. Just like the other bridesmaids, she was dressed in a blizzard blue kimono. Her hair was pulled into an elegant bun and her bangs, which usually hung across her forehead, were swept to the side. I couldn't see it from where I was standing, but I knew that one of the tasteful, well-crafted combs that Zhen had worked so hard on was in her hair. A white coat was keeping her warm and an umbrella had kept her dry from the snow on her way to the church. Even if she was dressed exactly like Colby and Willow, to me. . .Vi automatically stood out. She always had and always would. It really wasn't fair to the beautiful bride because Violet was an absolute vision.

And I wasn't surprised to see that she wasn't making eye contact with me. Oh, she was aware of my presence, I knew that. I could tell. The evidence was there in the slight downturn of her lips. It was there in the hand I could see clutching her umbrella so tightly that her knuckles became leached of color. It was there in the concentrated effort I could see her making to look anywhere but straight into my eyes. Yes, I knew that Violet definitely knew I was there. The fact that I couldn't see her eyes, though, was bothering me. I was hit with a sudden and irrational need to see them.

' _Look at me, Violet,_ ' I thought kind of urgently as I pushed away from the wall. ' _Please_.' She shifted a little nervously as I made my way over to her and she tilted her umbrella down to where I couldn't see her face. All that did was make me want to see her eyes even more than before. ' _Look at me?_ '

I came to a stop directly in front of her, so close that I could smell the perfume she always wore, that unique scent that had been haunting me for over a decade. That scent that had lingered in the air of the shop even after she'd made her exit. "Violet," I spoke, letting her name flow out of me like a natural extension of my very being.

I heard her take a deep breath before she lowered the umbrella and smiled at me. "Akito. Good evening." And then, _finally_ , she lifted her gaze and her eyes met mine. There they were. There she was. I remembered how her eyes had looked the night before. I remembered the tears falling down and the confusion I'd felt then. I was still feeling it now, along with a burning curiosity that I couldn't shake. My mind automatically started with another round of questions. ' _Why did you run away? Why were you crying? Why. . .Vi, why did you kiss me?_ '

And yet I couldn't bring myself to say any of those things. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and told her "You look beautiful."

Her face was perfectly calm. It was so calm that anybody else might be fooled into thinking she'd forgotten that last night had happened altogether. Her words, however, were another story. Vi had a great poker face that she inherited from her father, but she tended to ramble sometimes when she got nervous. Not all the time, but sometimes. This was one of those times. "T-Thanks. So do you. Not beautiful, I mean. You're whatever the guy version of beautiful is. What's that word? You know. Umm. . .handsome. You look handsome."

It was one thing to hear that I was handsome from my mom, who was undoubtedly biased. It was one thing to hear the word from just about any other woman in the world. I don't know. Hearing it from Violet? I smiled. I couldn't help it. Any compliment from her made me feel better than Delilah did the day I let her have her first horse treat. Almost as soon as the smile graced my lips, though, a sobering thought occurred to me. I was there with Violet and she was speaking to me. It really wasn't the best time, but if I didn't say something now then who knew if I'd get the opportunity to later. Therefore, I had to make myself an opportunity. Now wasn't the right time to talk about the kiss with her, but I could at least let her know that I wanted to have a word with her after the wedding.

"Look, Violet. We need to ta. . ."

And that was when Raul cut me off and the ceremony officially got started. It hadn't been appropriate for me to try to get a word in with her as we were walking down the aisle. I definitely couldn't do it during the ceremony. There wasn't a chance for private words while Lillian was taking pictures of the wedding party. And as soon as the pictures were done, dinner got started. I couldn't say anything to Violet at a table full of other people. Instead, I tried not to be obvious about watching Violet while she did a poor job of not glancing over at me.

She'd disappeared into the crowd as soon as the opportunity presented itself and I let out a sigh. I sat at my seat and picked up one of the snowflakes Violet had worked so hard on. In fact, I sat there and looked at all the decorations from those in front of me to the ones all around the room. Violet had worked so hard on them all. Those same hands that planted seeds and milked cows. . .Those same hands that brushed horses and caught fish. . .They were capable of crafting fantastic things. She was a farmer, but she was also an artist. Sometimes she would get a faraway look in her eyes and a dreamy look on her face and in those moments I knew that she was seeing the world through a unique lens. Did a tree look the same way to her as it did to me? A river? A cloud in the sky? If not, then how did they look to her? What was the difference? As much as I knew about Violet, I wanted to know more.

I got up from the table and went around the room talking to people. The whole time, though, my eyes found Violet wherever she was. Occasionally she'd look at me, but never for more than a couple of seconds at a time. A few seconds was better than nothing at all, though. I congratulated Makoto and Keiko, knowing that I had never seen the two of them as happy as they were right then and knowing that they both deserved every ounce of happiness they were feeling. I talked to Jack for a while until he went to talk to Colby about the trip they had coming up. I danced with my mom until she went to speak to Lillian and Laney. I hung out with Alan, Oliver, and Dale for a minute. I couldn't take it anymore, though. I needed to talk to Violet about what'd happened.

Glancing around the room, I quickly spotted her. First I noticed Vi's blonde hair and then the auburn hair of my sister that was exactly like my own. She was over there talking to Annabelle, Kimberly, and Serena. I started walking toward them. Kim spotted me first and she must have said something about my approach because Violet whipped her head around and looked at me. I already knew she was going to run off before she excused herself from the group and headed in the opposite direction. Anna and the others looked confused and I tried not to look disappointed as I stopped briefly to wish them all a good evening and compliment their outfits.

When I located Violet again, she was dancing with her father. I'll admit that while I was growing up, Cam Drayton had been a little intimidating. He wasn't a mean person, no. He just had a quiet way about him that made you think he was silently assessing you and that you didn't want to be found lacking once he was done deliberating. Add to that the fact that I was secretly in love with his only daughter and yeah, he'd unwittingly made me nervous before. I wasn't intimidated by him anymore, though. I respected him a great deal, but I wasn't afraid to go over there and ask if I could have a dance with his daughter.

I came to a stop behind them and bowed. "Excuse me." They stopped dancing and Violet's dad looked over at me. I straightened back up and said "Sir, I was wondering if I could cut in and get a dance with your lovely daughter."

Cam gave me one of those assessing looks of his while he thought my words over. He glanced off somewhere else in the crowd and sighed before he nodded at me. "I suppose I can allow that. By all means," he said as he stepped aside and headed away.

This was my chance. If Violet danced with me, I'd be able to talk to her about what we needed to talk about. I held my hand out to her. "May I have this dance, Violet?"

She looked down at my hand and for a moment there, I thought she might say no. "Don't be silly, Ki. Of course you can."

The song changed to something more upbeat. I wouldn't be able to do much talking with her if we were dancing to something fast. Therefore, I thought back to a song we'd listened to on the radio while we were in Buena Vista and set our pace according to that. It was slow, steady, and would allow for talking.

"You do know that this song calls for faster dancing, don't you?" she asked me as we swayed to the song in my head.

"I know," I stated as I held her a little tighter. Holding her like that made me think about how I'd held her while we'd kissed. Something was different there between us. It's not like Violet had never been in my arms before. I mean, we'd definitely hugged before. I'd carried her to the clinic after she fell down the stairs at Konohana's town hall. After that kiss, though, something felt different. "I wanted to talk to you, though, so this way is better."

"Oh. . .um. . ." It sounded like she was having a little difficulty speaking. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Last night," I told her, fully aware of the raspy quality my voice had taken on. Having this conversation with her was turning out to be a little more difficult for me than I'd anticipated.

"Yeah? What about it?"

I was quiet for a moment before I figured out what I wanted to say. "I know you had something to drink last night, but it wasn't enough for you to magically forget."

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, Akito." She wasn't fooling me. I knew that she knew what I was trying to get at.

I let out a shaky laugh. "You're not going to make this easy for me, are you? That kiss, Violet," I said softly, leaning down to brush the words against her ear. "What was that?"

"I. . ." she started and then trailed off.

I waited patiently as we swayed to the music. I didn't want to rush her now that the question was out there. Insteady, I wanted her to be able to find just the right words to explain that kiss to me. And to me, just the right words was nothing less than the absolute truth in this case.

"I. . ." she started again and I braced myself for whatever was about to come out of her mouth.

The tapping of a spoon against a glass interrupted her and we stopped dancing, both of us looking over toward where Willow stood at a table. Apparently it was time for the toasts and I knew that both of us were expected to say something to our friends. The question was out there, hanging in the air between us. It was still hanging between us when we took our respective seats at the table. It was there between us while we made our speeches and raised our glasses. It was there between us later on when I saw Violet slip out the door. I followed her out into the main part of the church and watched silently as she put her coat on and went outside. After putting my own on, I hurried out the door and watched as she carefully made her way down the steps. Once she was back on solid ground, she went to the left. It seemed she was heading toward the mountain, then. I went down the stairs as well and kept my distance as I quietly followed behind her. I was feeling like a stalker again, but that wasn't enough to make me turn around and head back toward the church.

I felt pretty surprised when Violet stepped out onto the ice and successfully made her way over to the little island without falling. Vi was naturally clumsy. She just couldn't help it. Sometimes she'd stumble, trip, or fall altogether. When we were children in school, she was real bad about accidentally knocking her pencils off the desk or dropping books. She'd been ice skating for many years, but she usually always fell at least once before she picked herself back up and started again. In fact, she'd fallen on the ice the day I'd fallen in love with her.

I stood as close as I dared to the ice across from the island and watched as she leaned against the tree. She was lost in her own thoughts and I was lost in mine as we both stood there. Yes, she'd fallen on the ice that day and I'd gone over to help her up. And that was when everything changed. Ever since then, I'd been keeping my feelings for her inside. I was exhausted. Not only was I exhausted from staying up all night thinking about that kiss, but I was also exhausted from keeping the truth from Vi. And the truth was this: I loved her. I'd wanted to tell her before Courtney came back into my life. Once Courtney showed up, though, it wasn't really an option. And then she'd gotten together with Jackson. Now, though, she wasn't with Jackson anymore. I wasn't with Courtney.

For somebody who despised the cold as much as she did, she didn't seem all that bothered by it for once as she stepped away from the tree. I felt her eyes immediately latch onto me where I was standing outside the light of the moon. How did she do that? How did she automatically find me there? It was like she was almost as intuned to my presence as I was to hers.

We stood there for a little bit and stared at each other. It was dark. It was quiet. It was cold. Yet the dark and the quiet and the cold was helping me achieve a certain clarity to my thoughts. I _needed_ an answer to my question. Why did Violet kiss me? Because there was something there in that kiss. It was something big, something vital. I needed an answer to that question. I needed the truth, her truth. And maybe, just maybe, it was time for me to tell her mine.

I took a deep breath and stepped out onto the ice.


	42. Vikito Forever!

**Author's Note:** Hello everybody! We've finally arrived at the last chapter of Violet's story. It took us a long time to get here, but here we are. I'd like to thank everybody who read, favorited, and followed. And I'd like to give an extra special thanks to my reviewers, who always made me smile with their reactions. You guys always made my day! It's bittersweet having to say bye to Violet, Akito, and the rest of the gang because they've been with me ever since the end of Lillian and Cam's story. I'll tell you a secret if I haven't mentioned it already: There was this guy I had a crush on who always smelled strongly of laundry detergent. _That_ was my inspiration for Akito's scent! I hope that this last chapter wraps things up in a way that'll leave you satisfied and happy. If you have any questions about specific characters, want to know my personal opinions, or anything else, though, leave a review or even send me a message and I'll do my best to answer them. There's still so much I want to say, but I can't postpone any longer so I'll just give you guys another thanks, a great big hug, and let you get on with reading the final chapter!

* * *

"Really? Go figure," he said with a heartwarming laugh full of relief and happiness.

"I know, right?"

"So. . ." he started and then looked up at me hopefully. "What do we do now?"

" _Welllll_ ," I drawled, dragging the word out a little. "I personally think that since we finally have our feelings out in the open, we should be together forever."

"Forever?"

"Forever," I confirmed with a teary-eyed giggle.

"Forever?" he asked again as he wiped away the single tear that managed to escape.

"For. . ."

Akito cut me off as he gently grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him. I landed against his chest with the aforementioned 'oomph.' There my face was, remarkably close to his, and I remembered the last time we'd been this close. I suddenly felt hot despite being a cold weather hater on ice in winter.

"May I?" he asked softly, an unfaltering gentleman even at a time like this.

Words escaped me, but I was able to nod my consent before his lips captured mine. My hands cradled the sides of his face and his cradled mine, both of us holding onto each other so gently that you'd think we were both made of fragile glass. This was not the kiss we'd shared the previous night. That one had been a raging storm of repressed emotions demanding to get free. This kiss was something else altogether. It was tender and sweet, more beautiful than a rainbow that appears in the sky after a sun shower. Those same emotions weren't desperately shouting at us to let them out because they were free. They had been heard, loud and clear, and they were accepted. And amazingly, this kiss was somehow even better than the first. When we finally came up for air, I laid my head against his chest and was satisfied to find that his heart was beating just as wildly as mine.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he told me as he sat up and started digging in his pocket while I sat there feeling delightfully dizzy from the kiss. "Remember how there was something I was going back to the shop for last night?"

Last night as in the night that I crawled across a table and kissed him. I tried not to feel absolutely mortified and not to let embarrassed color flood my cheeks. Where was a hat when I needed one?

"Yeah? I remember."

"Well I meant to give this to you on your birthday, but I kept waiting for the right moment and then we were interrupted by your dad. I wanted to give it to you last night, but. . .yeah. Maybe it was always meant for me to give it to you at this exact moment. Perhaps," he started as he pulled out the box and popped it open "the right time is right now."

My breath caught as I stared down at the contents of that box. Laying in a bed of crushed velvet, illuminated by the scant light of the night sky, was a necklace. There was an elegant silver chain and on that silver chain was the amethyst pendant I'd been admiring at Zhen's shop all year long.

"Akito," I whispered, breathing at last.

"When I saw this necklace, it reminded me of the way your eyes looked the day I feel in love with you. That's when I knew you had to have it and I had to be the one to give it to you," he told me as he took the necklace from the box and gently, so gently, hooked it around my neck. He didn't even fumble with the clasp. I gazed down at it with my mouth hanging open a little as he asked uncertainly "D-Do you like it?"

I was so overcome with emotion that I pushed him back down on the ice and kissed him. Finally, though, I managed to find the words I needed. "I love it, Akito. And I love you," I told him before I deepened the kiss.

I vaguely became aware of a sound in the distance. Oh, wait, yeah. It was the church bell. That was the first ring. Five.

A second later, the bell rang again. Four.

The scent of laundry detergent was assaulting my senses, leading me to suspect he'd taken his outfit home the night before and washed it just because he knew I loved the scent. Three.

I sighed against his lips as we ended the kiss, a sound of pure bliss. It was the kind of sound that can only come from true happiness. I leaned my forehead against his and we were holding each other's faces again. Two.

I opened my eyes and met his. They were so close and so bright, shining with the same feelings that were flowing through me. He engulfed me with that light, making me feel like there was nothing I could hide from him ever again, making me feel like I didn't want to hide anything from him ever again. I vowed right then and there that I wouldn't hide anything else from him from that day forward. One.

With a smile filled with all my love, I told him "Happy New Year, Akito."

"Happy New Year, Violet," he replied before he closed the distance between us and kissed me again. And again. And. . .again.

After that, Akito and I were pretty much inseparable. He started coming over to have breakfast with my family sometimes and he'd stick around long enough to help my mom with the animals. I would go over to his dad's shop after I was done with my work and see if there was anything he needed help with. Sometimes I would have dinner with his family and let me tell you, Georgia was thrilled. Seeing me sitting next to Akito at the table had her eyes shining more bright and golden than those of the son who had inherited them.

Not only did we spend time by the fountain and go horseback riding, but there were also days of fishing. Sometimes it was hand fishing, other times it was with rods. We would forage together and work on requests. Whenever Akito wanted to take the dogs at the shop on walks, I was right there with him. Sometimes he would surprise me with canvas and paints he got from Diego and I'd spend the day painting with him watching me as closely as I watched whatever it was I was painting. When Rufus finally passed away, Akito was there for me and understood perfectly how Rufus wasn't just a dog, he was a member of my family.

Some days I made it my personal mission to kiss every single freckle on Akito's face, to shower him with those butterfly kisses that made me flutter on the inside. No matter how many hours we had in a day, it was never enough for me because as we have already established, I am a greedy woman when it comes to Akito and time. Every single day was beautiful, though, and made all the more dear to me by having him near. We were together every day as an official and insanely happy couple.

Colby had left to go on the trip with Jackson, but not before she made me spill every single detail of that first kiss with Akito and what happened when we confessed our feelings to each other. By the time she came back, Willow and Zhen were suddenly engaged and Colby had a situation of her own going on. When she arrived home at the beginning of summer, there was a new glow to her that hadn't been there when she left. And that glow of happiness was thanks to Jackson! After her breakup with Ignacio, I had thought at length about how she deserved a better guy, one who was patient and kind and knew how to cherish. At the time, I didn't occur to me that Jackson fit that description perfectly. And yes, I took credit for getting them together since I had suggested that Jackson take her along with him in the first place. In fact, I planned on working that into my maid-of-honor speech whenever they got married. Who would have thought? My cousin/ex-boyfriend and my best friend. I was so, so happy for them.

I finally found out why my dad had given my mom that weird look at Keiko's wedding. They finally came out and told me that they'd made a bet back when I was just a kid. My mom had told dad that she thought I would end up with Akito someday. My dad had told her that was ridiculous and that his money was on Jackson or Makoto, although he eventually narrowed it down to Jackson. And after narrowing it down to Jackson, that was when he really started drilling the 'Jackson is your cousin' stuff into my head. Well, he lost that money.

Akito and I wanted to hit the ground running and waste no time with our relationship, but we decided to take things more slowly. We had waited so long to be together that we decided to savor every moment. We decided not to rush into anything even if we knew that we were right for each other. Therefore, seasons passed by while we grew together as a couple and found our footing. The following year, on a bright and early summer morning, I _finally_ married Akito on top of the mountain. Our friends, family, and the rising sun was our audience. My dress was white, knee-length, and flowy with floral appliques and straps. My hair was arranged in an elaborate up-do of braids and curls. On my head was a beautiful crown of specially grown violets that my dad had completed with skill and love. My bouquet was full of daisies with a few more violets interspersed throughout. Akito stood before me looking incredible in a black suit with a purple tie and a boutonniere that matched my bouquet. His hair was loose, free of its usual ponytail, and the breeze appeared to be running its fingers through it as if it envied the privilege I wouldn't be taking for granted for the rest of my life.

It was a simple, low-key affair with the only decorations being the fresh and fragrant flowers that one would expect at the wedding of a flower shop owner's only daughter. Yet, it was absolutely perfect. After all, that day wasn't about having a wedding. It was about vowing to stay by Akito's side for the rest of our days. It was about him promising to stay by mine. And that was a promise that we definitely intended to keep.

Before we knew it, nine years passed. Nine fantastic years. Nine _perfect_ years of priceless moments and immeasurable amounts of happiness making every day special.

"Awww, mom! Do I _have_ to?"

I gazed into my son's golden sunshine eyes with all the patience in the world as I said "Yes, Cyrus, you do."

"But," he started.

"No 'but' anything," I said as I motioned for him to turn around and then brushed his hair. It was blonde, but it was a shade darker than mine. "I'm just asking you to escort your little sister to the festival, honey. I'm not asking you to build an entire city in one day."

"I don't want Nikolai to see."

"Nikolai has a little sister of his own so I'm sure you won't lose any street cred."

"What's steep red?" he asked curiously as I sat the brush aside and he turned to face me.

"It's. . ." I started.

Just as quickly as he latched onto that, though, he dropped it in favor of arguing his point some more. "She's a _baby_ , though!" he interrupted insistently.

"You're eight. She's six. You're both still babies in my eyes, kiddo. You're _my_ babies," I pointed out before I planted a kiss on his soft, round cheek.

"I'm not a baby," he said, his bottom lip pushing out in an adorable show of petulance.

I put a finger under his chin and lifted it up so he would look me in the eyes. "You're right. You're not a baby. I think pretty highly of you. That's why I'm counting on you to be the reliable little man I know you are and do this. It's what gentlemen do. Don't you want to be a dashing gentleman like your dad someday? I'm sure it'll make him proud."

I could tell from the way his face lit up that I'd just won. "Like dad?" he asked seriously. "I can do that!"

With that being said, he ran off to hopefully not dirty himself before the start of the festival.

When I walked into the next room, I smiled brightly at the sight of Akito tying ribbons into our daughter's auburn hair. She saw me in her peripheral vision and whipped her head around to fully sweep her amethyst gaze across me. "Look, mommy, I got ribbons!" she enthused with a giggle. "Daddy says I make _them_ pretty, not the other way 'round."

"Hold still, please," Akito asked as he patiently and gently went about starting over tying the bow she'd messed up when she moved. "There. All done babydoll. Go show mommy."

Little Ember ran up to me at full speed, her pigtails bouncing, then stopped so quickly she wobbled for a second like she might fall over and hit the floor. Once she steadied herself, she said "Sorry, mommy, I forgot."

I glanced down at my stomach and rubbed it lovingly as I told her "No harm done, Emmy. Now, come here." I opened up my arms and she carefully stepped into them. "How about we go spray on some of mommy's special perfume that grandpa Cam makes her, hmm? Then we can smell like grown ups!"

Ember giggled again with a shake of her head as she said "But mommy, you _are_ a grown up." With that said, she took off toward mine and Akito's bedroom. I hoped she didn't start spraying it before I got in there.

"How are you feeling, my love?" Akito asked me, as sweet as an apple pie. He'd started calling me 'my love' soon after we started dating and I was pretty sure I'd never get tired of hearing it. Akito pulled me into his arms and I melted into his warm embrace. Truly, there was no place I would rather be at that very moment.

"Fantastic now that all that morning sickness business is done and over with," I told him truthfully as I snuggled as close to him as I could get with my stomach in the way. I breathed in the laundry-fresh scent of him. Everybody called it 'morning sickness,' but in actuality it was 'any time of the day sickness.'

"You're amazing, you know that?" he asked me softly as he rubbed my back. "You've already given me two beautiful children and here we are again with another bun in the oven."

I looked up at him and put my hands on the sides of his face. I pulled him down just enough to plant a kiss on the faint scar he had on his chin. "What can I say? We make great bread."

"The best bread," he told me confidently, always such a proud parent.

"Yes, the best," I assured him. "I know we're totally biased, but. . .I don't care."

He tilted his head down and brushed his lips across mine, showing me that even after nearly a decade of marriage he still had the power to make my heart boom and clap like there's no tomorrow.

By the time we left the shop, we were getting close to being late. I said bye to the animals _and_ mini Delilah as we made our way out of Akito's shop. That's right, Akito's. His mom handed it over to him as soon as we got married. In case you're confused, Akito ended up taking over Georgia's shop in Bluebell. She ultimately decided that there were just too many memories in that shop after Grady's death, so when Kana suggested they move to Konohana she agreed. Once they were both ready to retire, they handed the shop in Konohana over to Alan. Now the five of them happily lived there together: Georgia, Kana, Alan, Serena, and their two year old daughter, Katelyn.

So not only did I get to live across the road from Colby, I also didn't have far to walk to work on the farm. Mom had always said she wasn't going to retire for a very, very long time. . .if at all. When dad decided to retire and handed the flower shop over to Oliver, though, she decided it was time to hand the reigns over to me and spend quality time with the love of her life. Speaking of the new flower shop owner, though. . .Well, he finally worked up the courage to ask Kimberly to marry him. I wasn't the only pregnant lady in the two towns considering a new Drayton baby was on the way! Annabelle and Dale had a one year old son, and Akito was still adjusting to the thought of his baby sister now having a baby of her own. I didn't point out to him that he was having a case of double-standards considering he'd adjusted pretty quickly to Alan becoming a father.

Cyrus was actually the one who had held open the door of the shop for us and kept it that way until the last person came out the door. Before we could head down the road, Cyrus looked up at me with a smile so charming that he looked an awful lot like Akito in that moment. He then marched up to Ember and offered her his arm, which she promptly took like the little lady I knew her to be. Our son looked up at his father and Akito gave him a firm nod of approval. Cyrus looked like that one nod was better than all the cookies in the cookie jar on the counter of the kitchen.

"Come on, Emmy," I heard him say as he held his back straight and pointed in the direction we were heading. "I'm escorting you today."

"They grow up so fast," I said with a little sigh as I accepted the arm Akito offered me.

"We're about to start the parent game all over again so it'll be a while yet before we have to worry about an empty nest."

"True. And I'm going to savor every second we have with our banana breads."

"Banana breads?" he asked with a hearty laugh.

"Biscuits? Dinner rolls? Croissants? Come on, help me think of more bread products to compare them to."

As a family, the four and a half of us made our way down the road toward the tunnel. It was the day of the Children's Festival. The spring breeze and warm sunshine felt glorious on my skin and I wondered just how unhappy my uncle Mikhail was now that the weather had shifted back in my favor rather than his. I was willing to bet even now he was holed up somewhere blasting the air conditioner and freezing everybody nearby in the process.

"Violet!" I heard my name being called as we stepped into the room reserved for special occasions at the Konohana town hall.

"Jack!" I called back with a wave. The newly appointed mayor of Bluebell was standing with his wife, who also happened to be my best friend. Standing with them was their two children, Nikolai and Ashley, who happened to be Cyrus and Ember's very best friends.

To his credit, Cyrus continued to let Ember hold onto his arm as we made our way over there. Once they both came to a complete stop, however, he discreetly stepped away from her and nodded his head toward Nikolai as if he were the coolest scoop of ice cream in the cone. "Nik."

"Cy," Nikolai said back before they started to do the secret handshake that Akito and Jackson had taught them. It was the exact same secret handshake that Akito and Jackson were currently in the middle of doing.

"They're not even teenagers yet and this is how they greet each other?" I groaned.

"I know, right?" Colby agreed as she stepped forward and wrapped me in a hug. Seeing as I was pregnant, it was a far more gentle hug than the ones she usually gave me.

Ember and Ashley threw their arms around each other and started calling each other's hair 'super cute.'

"See? That's an age appropriate greeting," I pointed out. I then turned my attention toward Jackson. "Hey, get over here you."

He leaned down enough for me to plant a kiss on his cheek and we smiled fondly at each other. Of course, what Jackson had said to me after our breakup was right. We were okay. Everything turned out just fine between us and our family was back to normal. Wait, no, not normal. It was better than ever. And we made the distinct decision to tell our children that they were _not_ actually related and that they didn't have to think of themselves as cousins. Who knew, maybe one day our two families really would be truly related thanks to our kids. At least, that's what Colby and I were secretly rooting for. . .

Colby let out a little sigh before she told me "Seeing you all happy and glowing like this makes me want to add another munchkin to our brood. Honey, let's have one more baby, two max. How about that?"

Before Jackson could choke out a comment about that, I heard Willow say "Make way, a small town is coming through."

Sure enough, there was Willow, Zhen, and their _five_ children! The first time Willow got pregnant, she gave birth to a set of twin girls named Jia and Mei. The second time she had triplets, Harlow, Reed, and Guang. So in total they had three daughters and two sons.

"Will, wait for us," I heard Keiko's soft voice say as she and Makoto approached as well with their three sons Yuichi, Kenji, and Saburo.

A new round of secret handshakes and hair compliments ensued from the children.

"Ah!" Willow said as she stepped forward and rubbed my growing baby bump. "You're so cute, Vi. That being said, I think I'm done having children." When Zhen opened up his mouth to say something, without even looking back at him Willow said " _Done_."

"Come on, let's give these ladies a few moments to themselves," Akito said as he patted Zhen on the shoulder and led the guys a few feet away.

When we were alone, Keiko asked "Have you heard from Marissa lately?"

"Oh!" I said as I patted my pockets for the letter that Dale brought me earlier in the day even though mail didn't 'officially' run on festival days. When I pulled it out I waved it around like a little flag. "She says she's going to come visit this summer."

"Is she bringing husband number three with her?" Colby asked.

"Colby!" Keiko chastised her.

"What? I love Marissa and she's a dear friend, but he _is_ her third husband. It's just a fact," she said in a no-nonsense, practical kind of way.

"It _is_ a fact," Willow agreed.

Indeed, Marissa was on her third husband and I really hoped that she'd finally found the one she could spend the rest of her life with. I wished her the same kind of happiness that Akito and I had.

"Yes, she's bringing David with her. She's also bringing Christina, of course," I informed the three of them.

"How old is Chrissy now?" Keiko asked as she held out the bag she'd brought with her. As if he could automatically sense her movements, Makoto came over from where he was with the guys and grabbed it. He stood there with her purse slung over his own shoulder and didn't look any less tough and manly than he had a minute ago.

The other guys took that as their cue to come back over as well and I felt Akito's arms wrap around me as I told her "Seven."

I heard something collide with Akito's leg. We both looked down at the same time and saw that little Violet Aki, or 'Lettie' as she was known these days, had thrown her arms around him.

"Hey there, sweet pea," Akito said as he picked her up into his arms. "You've grown so much that pretty soon I won't be able to pick you up anymore."

I already couldn't pick her up anymore, even without being pregnant. "How are you today?" I asked my goddaughter as I smoothed back a lock of her hair.

"Great. I'm excited for the festival!" she answered as she fixed her beautiful blue eyes on me. She threw her arms out and Akito let her hug me around the neck, mindful the entire time of my ever-growing belly.

When he put her down on her feet, Yuichi waved at her with a cheerful "Lettie!" before she joined the rest of them.

Pretty soon, Rahi took the stage and asked that we all take our seats. I sat at one table with Akito, Colby, and Jackson while the rest of our group sat at the the table right next to ours. The children got their own tables in front of ours and while they were all sitting down, they were bouncing with excitement. Other familiar faces were present at the festival, as were their children, and I loved every single person that was there. The person sitting right next to me, however, was perhaps the most dearest face of them all. And if I hadn't come home from the city all those years ago, the life with him that I cherished so much wouldn't even have been possible.

"What put that beautiful smile on your face, my love?" he asked as he reached over and pressed his palm against mine before lacing our fingers together.

I hadn't even realized I was smiling. The smile stayed happily upon my face as I met his golden gaze. There were so many years when I never dared to dream that I could have the one thing I'd always wanted more than anything else: Akito's love. Yet, somehow, everything had all worked out just as my mom had assured me it would. Each day I got to wake up and see the sun shine on his face, just like I'd wished that morning in Buena Vista. Each day I got to love him fiercely from the bottom of my heart and received his radiant love in return. Each day I got to watch the family we'd built together grow and to feel the love our children gave so freely, a unique treasure that I never knew I could value so much. I savored the feel of our interlocked fingers and used my free hand to lovingly rub my stomach.

"I was just thinking about how blessed I am to have such a wonderful life with you," I admitted blissfully. "And how glad I am that I left the city all those years ago and returned to the two towns."

His eyes were shining like high quality topaz and he was giving me that look again, the one that made me feel as if he could see inside my mind, my heart, and my soul. There wasn't anything I was hiding from him anymore, though. Everything about me was always laid bare for him to freely see, and see it he could. Nobody ever had and ever would see me like he did, so fully and completely and lovingly. And at that moment, he saw my absolute happiness. That openness went both ways, though. For as much as he could see inside of me, I could also see inside of him. Every feeling I had warming my heart was a mirror image of those warming his.

"Me, too," he confessed as he leaned over and gave me a sweet, sweet kiss that lingered on my lips long after he'd pulled away. "Me, too."

The End.


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